002. Cause and Effect
In his defense, if Shinichi had known about Kaito's (admittedly strange) phobia, he never would've tried to surprise him with the brightly colored plushie that he managed to win from a crane machine.
A fish plushie.
It was a cute thing; soft, bright green and big enough to cuddle with, with shiny eyes and a smiling face.
He thought that Kaito would like it.
It was random, it was colorful, and it was soft – Kaito liked those things.
Usually, a combination of all three would be enough to make the magician practically
prance in delighted surprise.
“ –
EEEEEEEEEEE!”
Instead, the mere sight of it made Kaito let out the most
ear killing scream that Shinichi has ever had the misfortune of hearing in his life, and considering the fact that the detective has heard a
lot of screaming in his line of work, that was saying something.
“Get it away, get it away, get it away, get it away – GET IT AWAY!” Kaito babbled fearfully in a loud yell, frantically trying to get up the wall, away from Shinichi and the f-f-f-
finny thing.Since there weren't any footholds on the wall, it was rather remarkable that he was actually
partially successful in his endeavor.
For an agonizingly long moment, Shinichi just gawked at him in shock. He has never seen Kaito lose his cool like this before in his
life. Kaito was an energetic soul, impatient and bouncy, but he was always in control and totally confident in himself, something that was exaggerated when he was in his Kaitou Kid guise, making the thief seem more cocky (and
calculating) than Kaito really was in reality.
This strange, panicky creature was something else
entirely –
Vulnerable and scared witless.
Shinichi frowned at this, his expression serious. Without any hesitation, he suddenly tossed the plushie over his shoulder, uncaring of where it landed, as long as it was
away from Kaito, and he gently –
carefully – stepped closer to his friend, who was now whimpering, still cowering even though the fish was gone. At least he wasn't trying to climb up the wall anymore, which was a plus.
His rapid, short breaths and trembling wasn't very reassuring, however.
“Shh, it's okay, I'm here,” Shinichi murmured softly, instantly falling into the role of caretaker, old instincts urging him to protect and comfort Kaito, just as he does for crying children and hurt animals. When Kaito didn't try to lunge away from him, he carefully tugged at his jacket. As if nothing at all was holding him steady, the frazzled young man stumbled into Shinichi with a tiny squeak. The fact that he automatically gripped at Shinichi, seeking comfort, instead of flinching away, said a lot – both about how terrified he was, and about how much he genuinely trusted the detective.
That realization made Shinichi feel suspiciously warm on the inside, touched.
Smiling gently, he lightly wrapped his arms around Kaito, and then more firmly when the thief didn't tense up. He wordlessly lowered them both to the floor, whispering soothingly to the panicky being that was trusting him, even though he was the one that unwittingly
caused the situation.
Oh, Kaito will never
quite know just how much that meant to Shinichi, because that trust was something special in the detective's eyes.
Kaito didn't trust easily, no matter how friendly he seemed.
“Hey, breath with me, now,” Shinichi softly ordered, as Kaito curled up against him, still shaky. Shinichi ran a hand through those wild locks, soothingly petting Kaito's hair. “
Breathe. In, out. In, out. In, out – yes, just like that. In, out. In, out...”
Slowly, gradually, Kaito calmed down. His breathing became steady, matching Shinichi's calm pace, and his shaking stopped. Neither of them noticed, but even Kaito's heart rate mirrored Shinichi's.
His panic was gone, and all that was left was total embarrassment.
Like always, he was mortified at his loss of control. He cringed, waiting for Shinichi to start teasing him for having such a stupid fear, because he was
detective, and there was no way he hadn't already deduced by now that Kaito had ichthyophobia, an extreme fear of all things fishy and finny.
It wasn't that difficult to figure out, either. Kaito had been perfectly normal before Shinichi presented the plushie to him.
It was cause and effect, a very simple deduction.
Kaito buried his face into Shinichi's shirt, blushing and scolding himself as he waited with resigned dread.
To his astonishment, however, there wasn't any teasing, not even a hint of it.
Instead, Shinichi merely continued to pet his hair, not appearing to be the slightest bit bothered that Kaito was still using him as a human teddy bear. For once, he wasn't flustered or annoyed about having his personal space invaded.
“...better?” Shinichi softly questioned him, still petting his hair. Kaito bit his bottom lip, and he slowly nodded, ignoring how his heart suddenly fluttered. Obviously, he was suffering from a minor heart attack after his fit of hysteria, and it had
nothing to do with his crush on the detective, nothing at all.
As if reading his mind –
oh god, I hope not – Shinichi let out a small chuckle. A
relieved sound.
“Good, good...” Shinichi sighed, slumping somewhat. “You really worried me, you know that?”
“Ah, sorry?” Kaito offered, sounding apologetic, and unsure. He hesitantly peeked up at Shinichi, and then he smiled reassuringly at the detective, trying to show him that he was okay. “Well, at least now you know my biggest weakness!” Kaito joked, but he knew that it wasn't particularly funny, since Shinichi didn't even crack a smile at him.
Tough crowd.
“Hm.” Shinichi nodded, his hand absently trailing down, before resting lightly on the back of Kaito's neck, idly playing with the ends of the magician's hair as he regarded him with serious blue eyes. “You realize that I won't take advantage of your...weakness, right?”
Kaito blinked at him, surprised.
He stared into the calm depths of Shinichi's gaze, searching for any deceit, for any reason to doubt him.
Slowly, Kaito smiled. It wasn't one of his big, dazzling grins, or one of his cocky smirks – it was a startlingly
shy smile, something small and self-conscious.
“Yeah, I know,” Kaito quietly replied, getting lost in that endless blue.
For once, Kaito didn't mind losing his dignity over his phobia, because it felt like he hadn't lost anything at all.
