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Shinichi can't deny that his fiance is attractive. After all, he's seen Heiji in a swimsuit when they went to the beach with Ran and Sonoko, his warm brown skin gleaming in the sun. He's seen the other boy dressed in a tank top to deceive a murderer, those cut off sleeves highlighting muscled shoulders perfectly. Shinichi always notices Heiji these days, is always drawn to him, but it's never stopped him from focusing on a case before.
However, when the dark-skinned teen rips off his jacket to save Tomoaki Inubushi, his fiance's mind shorts out. Instead of helping to put out the fire or trying to find clues about the burning spectral hound, Shinichi simply stands there and stares at Heiji's arms.
It's not lust that's struck him dumb. Conan's body doesn't feel desire that directly, attraction relegated to a mental abstract rather than the physical. Which is probably for the best all things considered. But that means there's really no good reason for Heiji's arms to steal all his attention, Shinichi's eyes drawn to his fiance's biceps like they're magnetized.
Maybe it's because he finally knows how those arms feel around him, holding him tight in his real body the last time that they'd kissed. Heiji had touched him like a treasure, desired and protected, and at this moment, Shinichi wants nothing more than to be held like that again.
However, this is no time to be distracted. There are lives on the line and the eastern detective drags his mind back to the case forcefully. It gets a little easier when Heiji redons his jacket, blocking the view of his biceps once again. Shinichi still knows they're there but this mystery is strange enough to keep the detectives racing for new evidence, piecing together clues to determine the whole truth.
Working with his fiance is always exhilarating, the way their thoughts play off each other. Shinichi loves Heiji's mind, his cleverness and intuition, the eagerness for truth that's equal to his own. But even in the midst of their investigation, he can't escape his new awareness of the dark-skinned teen.
When Heiji waves his hands to emphasize a point, Shinichi's thoughts glitch for a moment. When his eyes catch on the line of his fiance's forearms, he just forgets to breathe. The other detective has only gotten more attractive as he's aged since their first meeting, growing into his features in a way that's not at all fair to Shinichi's sanity.
Thankfully his preoccupation doesn't stop them from catching the true killer, but he's distracted enough that his fiance notices.
“Are ya okay, Shinichi?” Heiji asks, pulling him aside once the culprit has been taken into custody. “Ya keep zonin' out on me.”
The dark-skinned teen lays a hand on Conan's shoulder, green eyes filled with concern, and Shinichi didn't mean to worry him. But he's also not sure what to say. It's hard to admit the truth when it's so embarrassing.
However, Shinichi also doesn't want to lie and he doesn't think that Heiji would actually judge him. Not when his fiance never has before.
“I just want... Can you hug me?” the eastern detective manages, his face flushing hot.
At the words, the other teen's expression softens from concern to tenderness.
“A' course,” Heiji says, before kneeling down and reaching out for Shinichi. The western detective tugs him forward until he's wrapped in warmth and comfort, head tucked gently under Heiji's chin. As Conan, he fits perfectly and the boy finds himself melting into that embrace.
This is exactly what he'd wanted, strong arms holding him against his fiance's chest. Heiji feels like safety, like home, and Shinichi never wants to leave.
He still hates that he's been forced to live as a child for almost two years now, hiding away his true self for fear of being killed. Unable to tell his friends who he really is or how much the other detective means to him.
But at the same time, Shinichi doesn't know how he got this lucky. As far as he's been able to determine, his parents arranged this engagement on a potentially drunken whim and yet his fiance is gorgeous, intelligent, kind, and equally obsessed with mysteries. Somehow Heiji actually loves him and is prepared to wait.
Even if it takes another year for Haibara to cure him, even if she never does and he's forced to grow up again as Conan, Shinichi knows that the dark-skinned teen will be with him every step of the way. That truth is undeniable – the only truth which can exist with Heiji's character – so he can't regret the path that led them here.
Shinichi doesn't say it out loud. The words feel too important, though he'll make sure that Heiji knows eventually. For now, the eastern detective simply hugs his fiance back as tightly as he can.
End