Of all the things he’d expected when he snuck through Hakuba’s window that night, it wasn’t this. Indigo eyes widened momentarily at the state the detective was in and not even a second later, he was crouching next to the couch, tugging a white glove off and placing a hand on the flushed blonde’s forehead to check his temperature, the three roses he’d been carrying now lying forgotten on the floor. 

“Really, detective, you need to take better care of yourself,” Kaitou muttered, frowning in concern as he carefully scanned Hakuba up and down. He knew he’d had a lot of work lately, what with cases, school and Kid’s heists – and god did Kaitou feel bad about how many of those he’d pulled lately now – and it wouldn’t surprise him at all if Hakuba had put off sleep for all of that. Again.

For god’s sake. 

The thief straightened back up after a few minutes and then, with one final glance at the blonde, marched out of the room. He had things to do. Things that included finding plenty of blankets and pillows, carrying Hakuba over to the bed which had to be much more comfortable than the couch, making soup and trying to convince Hakuba that, no, it wasn’t going to turn his tongue and teeth blue. 

Which would be hilarious, by the way, and something Kaitou filed away for later, but hardly something he’d do now.

There was a time for everything, Kaitou thought as he wandered back into the room with a bottle of painkillers in his hand, and right now, it was making sure that the detective got better. 

He’d return with more roses, gifts and pranks after that. 

—

“Aw, Kaitou-san, this is incredibly sweet. I love that you’ve incorporated this into the story arc that we’ve been working on. Nice use of details with the roses and, ah, pointing out that I work too hard for it to be healthy. I particularly like the mention of all of the Kid heists; this puts some of the guilt on you (which makes you much more sympathetic and relateable, since you are clearly feeling bad about it), and thoroughly justifies my apparent need to destroy myself through work. 

"I’m not certain how I feel about the mention of soup that would turn my mouth blue… Clearly wouldn’t be used in this instance, but would you really do that to me, Kaitou-san, in a different situation? Tsk, tsk! 

”…also, can you even carry me? I’m much taller than you. But, then again, you are very strong for your size and also very stubborn. Adrenaline, perhaps? I’ve always wondered that. But perhaps I’m not fully unconscious and could assist with that.

“Despite that we already have several open threads, I could easily see this being a very interesting scene to continue. Were we to, I imagine my response would be something along these lines:

–

By the time Kaitou returned, Hakuba was back to shivering again. Not just a vague tremble here or there, but hard, full-body shivering with each breath. The feverish haze brought an almost hazel color to his half-lidded eyes, dismissing the chocolate-and-honey of his regular gaze. He certainly looked exhausted, as Kaitou had thought. Flushed, body weak..

Too many long nights. Too much evidence pointing at the other secrets that he’s been harboring. The silver lighter, normally tucked away so carefully into his inner jacket pocket, teetered dangerously over the hem of the fabric. This was held up by the opened pack of cigarettes further in into the hidden pocket, that he’d never shown to anyone. 

The hands that had touched him earlier had comforted him, even though Hakuba didn’t – couldn’t, really, – respond to that effect. 

–

"Something like that, at any rate. Ahem. For your score, I’ll give you a 9/10, simply because 10 is near impossible to achieve and… how do I know for sure that you’d read me bedtime stories once you got me settled in? I think only time will tell!”