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Kaito knew that it was not the norm for someone’s romantic partner to have another romantic partner. Usually, if Kaito told someone that his boyfriend, Shinichi, was also dating Shiho, they would accuse Shinichi of cheating. Kaito then had to explain that no, they were in a polyamorous relationship, a V relationship to be exact, and it was most certainly not cheating.
Everyone got confused. Saguru, of all people, was the first to just ask, “So if you and Miyano-san aren’t dating, what is your relationship?”
Kaito had froze, his brain struggling to come up with an answer. “E-excuse me?” he stammered.
“Are you just Kudo-kun’s partners?” Saguru questioned. “Or are you friends?”
“F-friends, I guess,” Kaito answered. Why don’t I know how to answer this question?
Saguru raised his eyebrows, seeming to detect Kaito’s internal panic, but said nothing about it. “Alright then. Perhaps you should ask her what your relationship is.”
Kaito loathed to admit it, but Saguru was correct. However, as previously stated, he loathed to admit it, so he most certainly would not say that to Saguru’s face.
“Fuck no,” he said instead, then got up and started walking away. Pausing, he turned back and flipped Saguru off, because he was bored but too tired to think of something else to do.
Saguru just rolled his eyes like he expected that. Jerk.
Kaito hated that the detective was his friend.
Shinichi was not at his mansion when Kaito arrived. Shiho was, though, sitting on a couch. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you know where Shinichi is?”
“No,” Kaito groaned. “I just came in, how would I know?”
Shiho shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
Kaito sat down next to Shiho on the couch. “I have a question for you, Shiho-san,” he said carefully.
Shiho looked at him curiously. “What is it, Kaito-kun?”
“What exactly…” Kaito started, struggling to find the correct words. “...are we?”
“Homo sapiens,” Shiho replied. “Or, as you probably call us, human beings.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Kaito protested. “You know that.”
“I also do not know what you did mean,” Shiho said. “I have guesses, but…” She looked at him in the eyes. “Tell me. What did you mean?”
Kaito decided to just come out with it. “Our relationship,” he said. “What exactly is it? Are we just Shinichi’s partners? Are we friends?”
Shiho thought for a moment before she replied. “Both, I guess,” she said. “Yes, we are Shinichi’s partners. We are friends. But… I always kind of felt as if you were something more.”
Kaito felt a brief flash of fear. Usually when people said that… “I’m gay,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.
“I know,” Shiho replied calmly. “I didn’t mean it that way. I’m certainly not interested in you romantically.”
“Oh,” Kaito said as a wave of embarrassment came over him. “Okay. Good.”
“I don’t know exactly what my relationship to you is,” Shiho said slowly. “But I feel that connection to you. As strong as I feel my connection with Shinichi being, but certainly not romantic, like it is with him.”
“I guess that’s true with me too,” Kaito realized. “But… same. I don’t know the exact details, and certainly not any terms.”
Shiho smiled a little. “We’ll just have to find out, I guess.” She got up. “Come on. Send Shinichi a text that we’ll be over at the computer room.”
“The computer room?” Kaito asked in astonishment as Shiho started walking away. He quickly got up and began following her.
“Where else could we conduct research?” Shiho asked as Kaito brought out his phone and sent a quick text to their boyfriend. “We could do it on our phones, I suppose, but the screen is rather small.”
Kaito frowned at the typo in his text. “Yeah,” he said. “It is.”
They struggled so hard to find results until finally, Shiho encountered the term QPR.
“Queerplatonic relationship,” she said. “A committed intimate relationship that is not romantic by nature.”
“That…” Kaito’s voice faltered, then he spoke again. “That makes so, so much sense.”
Shiho smiled a little. “It does. I guess we’re queerplatonic partners, then?”
Kaito nodded. “Yes,” he said. “We are.”
Shiho got up from the chair and lightly brushed her fingers over Kaito’s. “Any reply from Shinichi?”
Kaito checked his phone, worry building inside him as he saw that Shinichi hadn’t even read the message. “No,” he choked out. “Nothing.”
Shiho’s gaze darkened, and then she pulled out her phone and went to the tracking app. “I hope he has his phone on him,” she muttered. “I hope it’s just a case, not anything worse.”
Kaito definitely agreed with her.
A location soon came up, and Kaito and Shiho were immediately on the move.
Their newfound revelation was not that important when it came to Shinichi’s safety.
Thankfully, it was just a case.
Shinichi had been walking by a local convenience store on his way home when he had heard a scream and, of course, rushed off to the scene of the crime. So invested in investigating, he had forgotten to press send on the text he had typed out in the group chat.
Kaito was too tired to feel anything other than relief that Shinichi was alright.
“That case took too long,” Shinichi muttered as the three of them lay down in his bed. It was late now, so their plans of going out to dinner were ruined. They had all eaten a quick meal before settling down under the covers.
“It sure did,” Kaito agreed with a sigh, then glanced at Shiho. “But, well, Shiho and I discovered something while you were out.”
Shinichi seemed to immediately notice the lack of honorifics. “What is it?”
“We’re queerplatonic,” Shiho explained for Kaito. “We aren’t just metamours or friends, but we’re more. Not romantic, though. But we’re still intimate. We still love each other.” She shot a smile at Kaito, and he found himself smiling back.
“Ah,” Shinichi breathed out. “I thought… you guys really didn’t seem like just friends. Or just metamours. I thought something like that was going on.”
Then they were all smiling at each other. They would have to sleep soon, but certainly they could spend a few more moments just talking to each other like this, right?
Right.