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Al Rigore Di Tempo

Chapter 19: Accelerando

Notes:

Hi!
This time, I have a content warning for you guys. So, this work has been tagged as mature, and the reason for that aren't so much the crimes as what's going to happen in this chapter. Usually, I'm not a friend of spoilers, but in this case, I feel like I'm obligated to warn you:
If you don't want to read mature content, but are okay with a slightly more intense making-out scene, stop reading this chapter when things are taken upstairs.
If you don't like those either, start scrolling a bit faster when things begin to... well... begin, until a phone rings.
I hope that helps you avoid things you don't want to read:)
As always, I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. Have a wonderful weekend!

Chapter Text

Despite of all his claims about detectives being unimpressive and boring, Kaito can't help but listen closely while Shinichi finishes his calls to the police. The self-assurance and insistence with which he handles the situation are mesmerizing, and Kaito can't distract himself from it. He observes Shinichi circling the room, talking to the officers on the other end of the line with sedate assertiveness. It takes about half an hour before Shinichi is done and hangs up.

"You know, it's a little disconcerting having you stare at me like that," he says, walking back to where Kaito is still stretched out on the couch.

He is being honest. Kaito can tell by the gentle color rising in his cheeks and the way he won't quite meet his eyes. He puts his phone down on the table next to the sofa and takes off his suit jacket, hanging it over the backrest.

"You don't need to feel so insecure, Shinichi. I was only thinking how sexy you sound while giving orders to Division One," Kaito grins.

It has the desired effect of increasing his blush.

"Stop teasing me," the detective grumbles.

"I wouldn't dream of teasing you," Kaito lies and takes Shinichi's hand to pull him next to himself.

The detective follows without resistance, so he can't be too irritated. Kaito puts his head on Shinichi's shoulder, pressing against his side.

The turntable is still filling the room with its scratchy sound. It incorporates itself effortlessly into their shields, replacing the music that is stuck in their minds. Kaito turns Shinichi's hand, watches the slender, bony fingers, and holds them against his own. His are a little longer, but not by much.

"I'm going to miss you being grown up. Don't get me wrong, Conan-kun is adorable, and you're still you, but it's nice to have someone big too hold onto," he tells Shinichi.

"Mmh," Shinichi hums, lacing his fingers with Kaito's, "then you better make the most of the next twelve hours."

"Haibara-san said you might be able to get back to normal in about a month."

Shinichi shrugs, careful not to dislodge Kaito. "I'd choose a more conservative estimate, but I guess that by the beginning of March, I could be myself again."

"So two more months," Kaito says.

"Yes, more or less," Shinichi affirms.

Kaito nods against his shoulder, enjoying his warmth and the faint smell of mint and bergamot of his shampoo.

"Are there things you're looking forward to doing again?"

Shinichi chuckles. "Buying a cup of coffee at any store I want to, reaching the cabinets without a chair, telling Ran I'm back and spending an afternoon with her as myself, I guess. And maybe do this again."

"Do what?" Kaito asks, staring up at Shinichi.

"Just hang out with you, tinkering with old tech, talking about books, watching movies. It has been nice," Shinichi replies, running his thump over the back of Kaito's hand.

"It has," Kaito purrs, squeezing Shinichi's hand in return.

The bond is almost singing with energy, alive and striving. Shinichi's emotions, tense and worried about the case, slowly lighten up, easily shifting into the deep contentment Kaito feels at their closeness. The sounds of the house, the cracking of timber and the rush of the hot water through the pipes of the heating system, are low in the background, nothing but the backdrop to the music and Shinichi's heartbeat and breath. Shinichi's eyes are very blue. Kaito might drown in them.

Shinichi adjusts their shields with a soft smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

"You're so distracted," he says, voice like molten caramel, sweet and rich.

"You're being very distracting," Kaito counters and leans in to kiss him.

Shinichi doesn't resist this time, either. They kiss again and again for a couple of minutes, Kaito moving closer and closer, wrapping his arms around the detective and pulling him in further. They end up spread out on the sofa, like before, Shinichi's cheeks flushed and hair hopelessly mussed, but eyes alight with want as he looks down at Kaito. It sparks something within Kaito's own body that is foreign and faintly scary.

It's powerful though, making Kaito incapable of looking away.

"Have you thought this through?" Shinichi breathes down at him.

"No, I haven't," Kaito replies airily.

"Wouldn't it be better to-" Shinichi starts, but Kaito doesn't have the patience for that and pulls him back down on top of himself, searching his mouth once more.

"This is better," he whispers against Shinichi's lips.

"Of course it is, but shouldn't we take this a little more slowly?" Shinichi suggests almost pleadingly, propped up on his left forearm, framing Kaito's head.

The impression is ruined, however, by his eager right hand mapping out Kaito's torso with feathery touches. Kaito opens his mouth, and a breathless gasp escapes as Shinichi skims his sensitive side.

"If you really want that, you have to stop now!" he hisses, eyes shutting in bliss as Shinichi's hand worms its way underneath his shirt and strokes down his stomach.

The sensation is intense, especially with the bond still open. It feels like Shinichi leaves a trail of burning embers in his wake.

"Hmmm," Shinichi hums, his hand moving up towards Kaito's chest.

Kaito's own hands decide they have been out of the game for long enough and tackle Shinichi's button-down shirt. They make short work of it, even with most of Kaito's focus on the way Shinichi's lips are caressing his own and his hand tracing his collarbone, still underneath his sweater. He pushes Shinichi's shirt over his shoulders. Shinichi retreats a bit, searching Kaito's eyes. Whatever he finds is enough for him to hold himself up and shrug out of the garment, leaving Kaito's hands freedom to roam across his bare upper body.

It's marvelous, Kaito thinks. Shinichi is slim, not overly muscled, but still firm, and so incredibly warm under his fingertips. Kaito can see goosebumps rising where his fingers go, can watch his ribcage expand and deflate with deep, rough breaths that hiss through his slightly opened lips. When he manages to tear his eyes from the path his hands are taking and look up again, Shinichi's eyelids are lowered. He is staring at Kaito with an intensity that makes his heart skip a beat.

His right hand reaches for the hem of Kaito's own shirt and pushes it up wordlessly. His emotions flood Kaito with an overpowering need to be skin to skin. He pulls off his shirt faster than the other can blink. A surprised chuckle escapes from Shinichi.

"Right, I should have known that you've got routine in getting out of your clothes quickly," he says huskily.

"This sounds as if you're shaming me for something, detective," Kaito complains, voice breathy.

Shinichi just shakes his head in mild exasperation. Kaito would have continued the argument, if the detective didn't choose that moment to lower himself down so that their bodies are finally flush, one of Shinichi's legs between Kaito's own, their chests smooth and solid against the other, Shinichi's forearms now bracketing Kaito's head from both sides. Shinichi's lips find his again. Kaito couldn't say how his hands end up on the other's back, one tracing his vertebrae from the neck on downwards, the other clinging to his shoulder.

It's a lot to take in, Kaito's perception going into overdrive, and since both of their emotions are bubbling up to the point of boiling over, neither of them is capable of exerting even a sliver of control. Kaito thinks he might be panting, gasping quietly into Shinichi's mouth while his wandering hand has reached the waistband of the detective's suit trousers, and his audacious fingers start skimming underneath it, approaching a terrain that is far from what Kaito knows and is used to. Shinichi's breath hitches, his movements stilling for but a moment, before he carefully presses his hips down against Kaito's. That punches a moan right out of Kaito's stomach, and there is nothing he can do to keep it in. Their lips separate, and they stare at each other in genuine surprise, both of them caught off guard by how fast this is escalating.

"I-" Shinichi says, but before he can complete the sentence, his phone rings.

They both freeze in shock. Shinichi gives Kaito an apologetic look and sits up, reaching out for it. When Kaito catches a glimpse of the caller ID, he wants to throw something against the wall.

"Oh, this is so typical, I should have known it would be him!" he groans in what he has to admit is fairly frustrated desire.

"I'm sorry," Shinichi whispers and presses a quick kiss to Kaito's mouth, "we'll continue this in a minute."

He means it, and Kaito finds himself mollified as Shinichi pulls the blanket over their disheveled bodies and picks up.

"Hakuba-san, what a surprise that you should call me," Shinichi says.

Kaito can't help but fake a bout of retching next to him.

"Ah, Kudou-san, I'm very sorry for the late call. I hope I'm not interrupting your evening," Kaito hears Hakuba reply on the other end.

He scowls darkly.

"It's alright," Shinichi says politely, and Kaito would pinch him for it, could he not feel through their bond that to Shinichi, too, it really isn't. "What is this about?"

"You see, Hattori-san told me to reach out to you if I found something relevant while going through the data of the medical personnel at the Haido Sentinel-Guide-Center, since he is with his newly bonded girlfriend over the holidays and, uh, wished to avoid complications."

'So now we have to deal with those complications? We're with our fairly newly bonded one, as well!' Kaito mouths at Shinichi, enraged.

Shinichi tangles his hand in Kaito's messy hair and starts to rub his scalp, placating him. Kaito is loath to admit that it works.

"I see. You did background checks on the physicians, then?" Shinichi asks.

"I did. It was quite a list Hattori-san handed me a day before Christmas, so it took me a while," Hakuba replies, and Kaito can just imagine him, sitting all arrogant and almighty in his plush armchair.

This is building up to a long-winded explanation.

"There are several doctors whose background is a little dubious, which is such a stain on an organization such as the SGO, but for our case, I think there are two people that are especially relevant, disregarding, of course, Yamada-sensei, the victim of the recent murder. One has a history working with the chemical compound that was identified in the drug, being one of the leading researchers in that field. However, I can't establish a connection to a possible supplier for this one, and also, as far as I can tell, there are no activities that would incriminate that person."

Kaito wonders why he bothers talking about the physician in question, then.

"The other one, however," Hakuba continues while Shinichi listens with the patience of an angel, "has strong ties with the pharma lobby and a history of working with Sene at the start of their career. They are known to have been one of the doctors who distributed it liberally, even after it had long been criticized for its devastating effects on Sentinels. They have been vocal in their support to reestablish a treatment focused on medication for years, up until that opinion became too disputed to uphold further."

"Has this person continued treating patients with medication backhandedly?" Shinichi asks.

"The orders placed at the respective companies indicate that, yes. Most problematic mixture of medication, I have to say. I'm not certain if I've got all of the orders from all the companies together, though, seeing as their current partner already is a sales representative at one of the bigger ones."

Shinichi gasps. Kaito can practically watch as the puzzle pieces align in his head.

"Hakuba-san, this person you're talking about and their partner, they wouldn't happen to be..."

"Ito Tomoe and Lisa Meyer, who formerly went by Kaneko Risa, a research associate with Toudai. They form a Guide-Guide couple, which is rare, but not unheard of. I assume, the police overlooked it due to that fact."

Kaito and Shinichi stare at each other, baffled, the solution right in front of their eyes. The only thing that is missing is proof.

"Can I ask you for a favor, Hakuba-san? I need you to forward this information to Division One and order immediate searches of Parcey Pharma's Tokyo branch, as well as an apartment in Haido. I'll send you the address," Shinichi requests.

"Certainly, but don't you want to see this through yourself, Kudou-san?" Hakuba asks, surprised, mirroring Kaito's own sentiments.

"I'm a little indisposed tonight," Shinichi replies with a soft smile on his lips that melts Kaito's heart.

His eyes trace over Kaito's face, and suddenly, they widen a little.

"Another thing," he adds, "please try to get a hold of a sample of Lisa Meyer's voice when she thinks no one is listening and play it to Nakano-sensei from the center."

Hakuba agrees to the strange instruction and says goodbye. Shinichi puts the phone back on the desk after forwarding the address of Ito-sensei, unfortunately removing his other hand from Kaito's hair in the process.

"I don't see how I didn't think of it any sooner," he murmurs.

"Thought of what?" Kaito asks.

"Her voice, when she spoke to us. Meyer, I mean. It was strangely breathy and soft, even though her whole appearance was so self-assured and resolute. It didn't fit."

"She pitched it up," Kaito realizes.

"I would bet my watch that when we get our hands on a sample of her real voice and play it to Nakano-sensei, she will identify it as that of the man she heard in Yamada-sensei's office," Shinichi says.

"Ito-sensei learned from Nakano-sensei that she thought she heard a man in Yamada-sensei's office and decided to match their stories, in order to create an alibi for her partner that she could later use in order to claim she never saw Yamada-sensei that day," Kaito concludes.

"It was an honest mistake of Nakano-sensei that the two of them spun to their advantage," Shinichi says.

"How did you think of it?" Kaito asks.

A deep crimson spreads across Shinichi's face, beating everything Kaito has seen on him so far by a margin.

"What is that, Shinichi? Have you thought of something naughty?" he smirks, leaning closer to the other, intrigued.

"No!" Shinichi exclaims, "I didn't!"

"Are you sure, though? You look like you're ready to explode," Kaito teases.

"It wasn't! It's just... Well, maybe...", Shinichi trails off, burying his face in his hands.

"Shinichi... Tell me," Kaito sings.

There is a beat of silence.

Then Shinichi mumbles, "Your voice just now. When you moaned. It sounded like that."

It's a testament to both, Shinichi's courage and his trust that he peaks at Kaito through his fingers after saying something like that. It's also a serious blow to Kaito's image as the slick and composed one of the two of them, because that answer has his own face flaring up like a fire hydrant.

Shinichi lowers his hands slowly and reaches for Kaito's, that are motionless on his lap. The movement has unsettled the blanket on Shinichi, exposing his still naked torso to the chilly air of the library. His minuscule trembling, however, doesn't seem related to the temperature.

"It was a nice sound," he whispers, looking at Kaito with earnest, searching eyes.

Kaito struggles for air, fighting to get over his embarrassment.

"Don't just spring things like that on me," he bursts out eventually.

"You asked!" Shinichi retorts heatedly.

Kaito isn't interested in that conversation. He is more interested in tackling Shinichi flat on his back and kissing him until he is too out of breath to say things Kaito can't handle.

They are quickly back at the point where they left off, positions now reversed and hands wandering just as daringly. It's slowly bordering on too much for their state of dress.

"Let's take this upstairs," Shinichi mutters into Kaito's ears, his teeth worrying Kaito's earlobe.

They don't waste any time on the way, Shinichi taking Kaito's hand and pulling him along, up the stairs, through the corridor, into a room that smells of dust and leather and books, kind of like the library, but underneath it all there is a hint of bergamot and mint. It makes Kaito feel safe.

The bed is freshly made, even though they didn't sleep in it yesterday, and Kaito wonders who did that for a moment, but he is quickly distracted by Shinichi's hands on his jeans, touching the button hesitantly, asking for permission. Kaito just answers by going for Shinichi's belt. They slip under the covers just moments later, down to nothing but their underwear; that last barrier something they couldn't get rid off so out in the open.

Kaito's heart is racing and Shinichi's is echoing it beat for beat. They push and pull on and against the other, their bodies striving to get closer, tongues meshing, hands searching. Kaito reels Shinichi in by the hips when the detective has settled on top of him again and starts to grind up against him with abandon. Their combined want is too much to ward off, and no phone call in the world could stop this anymore. Shinichi groans above him and aligns his own movement with Kaito's, adding to the pressure building between them.

"Kaito, we-" he gasps, pulling at Kaito's pants.

By now, Kaito is too far gone to care about anything like embarrassment, especially underneath the protective cover of the blanket that traps their warmth within. Kaito pushes off his boxers, and Shinichi follows suit by shimmying out of his own. Kaito ends up using his feet to get them out of the way without the other having to move.

Kaito can hardly control his breathing at this point. When Shinichi presses down, another airy, high-pitched moan escapes him against his will. Shinichi shudders, and Kaito is stunned by the clarity with which he can tell how much Shinichi likes it.

Emboldened, he reaches down between them, wrapping his hand around the both of them and starts to move. Shinichi's hand comes to join his, falling into step effortlessly. Just like in every other aspect of their relationship, the two of them are in perfect synchronicity. It's way too overwhelming to last long, and Kaito can't say who tips over the edge first. He regains his senses slowly, Shinichi lying half on top of, half next to him, breath slowing down gradually.

"I think straight is off the table for good," Kaito chuckles.

"Hmm, probably," Shinichi hums.

His voice sounds low, rough, and content.

"Can't say I mind so much," Kaito muses.

Shinichi pushes himself up and presses a kiss to the corner of Kaito's mouth.

"Me neither. Though I could do with a shower."

"How unromantic. Are you just going to jump right up?" Kaito teases him.

"You are much more bothered by this stickiness than I am," Shinichi replies drily, and Kaito can't deny that, his sensitive skin already protesting. "And besides, what's romantic about lying in your own mess?"

"You are such a mood killer, Shinichi," Kaito complains, but he still lets the other pull him out of bed and into the bathroom next to the detective's room, enjoying the view of an undressed Shinichi in front of him.

Both of them being as exhausted as they are speeds up the cleaning process considerably. They are back in bed swiftly, Kaito wrapping himself around Shinichi from behind and pulling him close.

"This is simply too warm," Shinichi complains.

"Just deal with it for now," Kaito tells him.

Shinichi falls silent and pushes back against Kaito nearly imperceptibly.

"I really like you, you know?" Kaito whispers to him after a while.

"I do. Know, that is," Shinichi replies drowsily, a smile in his voice. "I like you, too, Kaito."

"I know," Kaito replies, tightening his hold on the other.

They actually manage to fall asleep like that, enclosed in warmth, security, and a feeling of belonging.