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@iridcsccnt​.  {  shinichi  &  kaito  }.

‘  happy  birthday.  ’  a  single  candle  stands  inside  a  chocolate  cupcake  with  chocolate  sprinkles  ,  and  the  cupcake  itself  lays  flat  in  shinichi’s  palm  as  he  holds  it  out  to  kaito  as  if  it  was  resting  on  a  plate.  (  there’s  more  cupcakes  for  kaito  in  a  box  from  one  of  the  fancier  ,  and  expensive  ,  french  bakeries  in  tōkyō  ).  there’s  a  small  smile  on  his  face.

「    Hearing the words ‘happy birthday’ spoken in Kudō’s voice, Kaito’s first thought was a genuine ‘how did he know?’. Well, that’s a lie, because something else inevitably had caught his attention first ( namely the soft smile Kudō is currently directing at him, and it is killing Kaito ). Still... he doesn’t think that he had told the other about when his birthday is. “ Ah, ” Kaito chuckles briefly, reminding himself to be mindful of his expression as he accepts the chocolate-flavored cupcake.

‘  as  long  as  we  order  in  cake  ,  yeah  ,  ’  kaito  says  ,  voice  light  in  a  teasing  tone.  perhaps  it  was  a  little  bit  simple  ,  but  kaito  does  truly  enjoy  shinichi’s  company  ,  and  shinichi  coming  home  so  fast  from  his  trip  was  truly  gift  enough  since  he  had  thought  he’d  be  spending  the  evening  of  his  birthday  alone.  (  aoko  had  offered  to  hang  out  together  ,  but  without  shinichi  around  ,  kaito  hadn’t  felt  like  it  ).

there’s  a  mischievous  look  in  his  eyes  before  he  says  ,  ‘  y’know  me  ,  i’m  easy.  ’  with  a  final  pat  of  shinichi’s  chest  ,  kaito  rocks  back  on  his  heels  and  tilts  his  head  ,  looking  remarkably  like  his  doves  at  the  moment.  ‘  any  preference  on  the  movie  ?  ’

「    It takes a small second, but Shinichi’s expression visibly relaxes again, his lips curving a soft smile. “ Of course. ” he chuckles in reply then, with a fond look in his eyes that is usually reserved for Kaito only. “ Pick the cake you want, and i’ll pay for it. ”

as  soon  as  shinichi  starts  to  trail  off  and  turn  a  little  red  ,  kaito  knows  that  shinichi  didn’t  think  anything  past  “  get  to  kaito  as  soon  as  possible  ”.  luckily  for  shinichi  ,  kaito  isn’t  insulted  and  ,  in  fact  ,  finds  it  cute  of  the  detective.  the  great  detective  ,  the  bane  of  criminals  everywhere  ,  and  he  can’t  even  think  of  plans  for  his  boyfriend  on  his  birthday.  frustrating  on  anyone  else  ,  but  endearing  on  shinichi.  [  it’s  because  kaito  is  whipped…  ].

‘  do  you  at  least  have  omiyage  ?  ’  kaito  asks  with  a  laugh  ;  although  ,  he  assumes  shinichi  will  answer  to  the  contrary.  in  fact  ,  without  even  asking  for  an  answer  ,  kaito  says  ,  impish  smile  curling  on  his  lips  ,  ‘  well  ,  we  can  stay  home  tonight  and  watch  a  movie…  ’  and  as  he  speaks  ,  a  hand  reaches  to  glide  over  the  lapel  of  shinichi’s  suit  ,  rumpled  as  it  was  from  the  flight.  ‘  …  and  cuddle  for  a  bit.  sound  good  ?  ’

「    Finding himself unable to answer the question regarding omiyage, Shinichi flushes more without even a word uttered... But luckily for him, he doesn’t have to struggle for long when Kaito skips asking for said answer and suggests instead that they could stay home and watch a movie ( whether he has brought a gift from overseas for Kaito or not ends up remaining unknown ).

‘  apparently  ,  ’  he  drawls  ;  although  ,  his  tone  doesn’t  seem  to  match  the  happy  expression  on  his  face.  giving  into  impulse  ,  kaito  leans  in  again  to  press  his  lips  against  shinichi’s  neglected  cheek  ,  and  then  rocks  back  on  his  heels  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets  and  the  same  wide  grin  of  happiness  on  his  face.  ‘  have  anything  planned  for  this  special  day  ?  ’

he  raises  an  eyebrow  at  the  last  comment  ,  feigning  ignorance.  ‘  oh  ?  an  important  day  ?  what  day  is  that  ?  ’  still  ,  even  his  poker  face  can’t  stand  up  against  his  happiness  of  seeing  shinichi  again  ,  especially  seeing  how  much  shinichi  was  smiling  ,  so  a  wide  grin  spreads  across  his  lips  again.

‘  oh  ,  look  at  who’s  finally  back  !  ’  leans  in  to  smooch  his  cheek.

Yeah…  It is just him being paranoid…Probably… His eyes settle on the rising Edogawa and a nervous sort of smile plays onto his face.  Conan’s a good kid.  Soren knows that much, though there’s something more to what was said by the other boy.  There’s a falsehood somewhere in it… unless he’s reading the other boy wrong… but… He’s gotten as far as he has by being able to read people to an extent… then again… He’d fucked around and found out when he read those assholes in the syndicate wrong. So, actually, he’s gonna play this one smart… Be kind, on the odd chance Edogawa is telling the truth and it is in fact himself who is being the panicky dishonest asshole. “No you didn’t… I get nightmares pretty frequently now too, so I empathize… I probably won’t sleep tonight anyway…” There’s some truth there.  Some part of him considers if he gave away too much with that…but even if this ends up being a waste of time or is the eventual reason for him winding up in a corpse… He can at least try to be a friend. He peeks over at the figure next to Conan, “Haibara-san…if you’re still up and stuff, I’m willing to listen… I’m trying to get better at that.”

「    Having half a mind to roll her eyes in exasperation, Ai sighs quietly from her spot. In the end, she goes along with the detective’s fib ( it’s better than having to explain why she looks as if she had seen a ghost, and Kudō-kun most likely was thinking about it when he made up that lie ).

“ I’m fine... ” she answers back to the other boy, remaining where she is under the covers. “ Edogawa-kun and I already talked a little, but I’d rather just not think about the nightmare right now. ” There’s a short moment of silence before she adds lastly, “ Thank you, anyway. ”

Kudō-kun lets out a soft sigh as he looks over at Ai, and the expression he wears is that of genuine concern ( which she is going to attentively ignore ). Despite that a nightmare hadn’t occurred specifically tonight, they did nonetheless happen frequently to her.

“ You’re having a lot of nightmares too, Soren-kun ? ” the small detective says next — probably to divert the focus of the conversation from being solely on Ai. “ In that case... how about the three of us head over to the kitchen ? That way, we don’t have to worry about waking the others up. ”

Hearing his suggestion, the scientist ask while sighing, slowly rising up to sit. “ And what are we supposed to talk about, once we’re there...? ”

“ Can be anything, really. ” Kudō-kun responds with a small grin. “ Hakase won’t mind it either if we borrow his kitchen for a bit... Well, so long as nothing breaks. ”

It might just be him imagining things.  It probably is just his anxiety getting to him but Soren thinks he just heard a whisper and that disturbs him.  His mind races to rationalize it away, theories such as, ‘It was probably just one of them muttering in their sleep’ and ‘ I’m definitely crazy, they can’t be like me’ spring to mind…but… There’s also a concern as to whether or not one of them had heard his grievances being aired… Because, Edogawa has an aura that’s bit like standing too close to a fire and that kid is observant too… and if he is just a kid…  well… if all of these kids are just kids… He can live with disturbing their sleep momentarily and he could also probably play it off if he got cold feet when it came to asking if any of them had heard him.   He rises back up, glances across the gathering of probably sleeping children and whispers as softly as he can, “You guys still up too?”

「    Kudō-kun looks at her with a small furrow on his brow, and Ai can almost guess what he’s about to ask after she had uttered her whispered words to him, her small oversight making her close her eyes and silently curse herself out. “ Harm us...? ” the small detective, far too perceptive for his own good, whispers carefully with a hint of vigilant curiosity ( even though he’s only half-awake, he absurdly still manages to catch on to the small details ).

Ai sighed mutedly before she let her eyes open up again. But just as she’s about to whisper again, movements from the other end could be heard, causing the two of them to immediately go quiet. From her viewpoint behind Kudō-kun, she could see Yamashita-kun had moved to sit up, still wide awake from his nightly praying.

“ You guys’ still up, too ? ”

Hearing the question, Kudō-kun looks over at Ai. Already able to tell that he’s debating on whether to respond back or not, she gives him a look of warning. The small sleuth, however, only gives her a reassuring smile, having decided on his next course of action.

“ No... we kind of just woke up. ” ‘Edogawa-kun’ answers with a slightly more audible whisper this time, letting out a quiet yawn after rising up to sit like the other boy. Genuinely drowsy, he keeps his head lowered while picking up his glasses to put them on.

However, at the next words that comes out of his mouth, Ai feels her face twitch in wry annoyance from her sleeping spot, giving him a death stare while he explains the ‘reason’ behind why they’re awake.