So… just a random little idea that struck me. I know I should be updating Semantics and Club Aphrodite, but I swear, this wouldn't leave me alone. Maybe I'll add a couple more chapters if this is interesting enough, but it's kind of just some lame pre-slash and meant to be standalone. But we'll see. Enjoy! – Luna

A Sonata and a Smile

Kuroba Kaito shivered, forcing out a breath into chilly air as he scrabbled through his coat for the keys to the apartment door standing in front of him.

It was an icy January day, and Kaito had just completed his most recent heist as the notorious Kaitou Kid, his alter ego. He had just barely managed to catch the last train back to his apartment in Ekoda – which he shared with his childhood-friend-turned-girlfriend of one year – and now stood shivering in front of their apartment.

"Dammit," he muttered, shoving his nose into his loosely wrapped scarf and increasing the pace of his rifling. The bite of the cold was starting to bother him, and he fumbled around.

The door before him suddenly caved in, spilling light out over Kaito. Blinking, Kaito lifted his eyes from his pocket to see Nakamori Aoko, his girlfriend, standing in the doorway, arms folded tightly across her chest and her expression more frigid than the weather.

"Aoko…?" Kaito stuttered, unsure of why she was looking at him like she was ready to spit fire. "Why are you still up?"

"So you are aware of the time," Aoko remarked bitingly, lips pursed. "It is one o'clock in the morning, Kaito. Are you also aware of the implications of that?"

Kaito bit his lip, uncomfortable, as a violent shiver ripped down his back. Throughout the year they'd been living together, Aoko had been annoyed on many occasions about the suspicious number of times Kaito came home extremely late, but she'd put up with it with only a few sighs. It appeared that now she was sick of it and was finally going to give Kaito the lecture of his life.

"If you're trying to say that I've been cheating on you, I haven't, I swear," Kaito said carefully, rubbing his palms together in a vain attempt to warm them. "It's…" He hesitated, knowing telling her he'd been out on a heist and therefore revealing his identity would probably result in his death, and that moment of evident unwillingness was all Aoko needed.

"I swear to God, Kaito, I don't even know you anymore!" she exploded, hands gravitating to her hips defensively. "You were always leaving at the strangest times, and you don't get back until times like now! And you've been so distant that I can't even –"

Putting up a shaking hand, Kaito stuttered, "C-Could you let me in before you go on? It's really c-cold out here."

Eyes growing murderously wide, Aoko scoffed angrily, "I cannot believe you, Kuroba Kaito. You don't even care that I'm upset at you. You know what? Consider us over." She slammed the door shut, leaving a stunned and frozen Kaito facing an unmoving door. He heard the click of the lock turning into place and the muffled sounds of Aoko stomping off, probably to her bedroom.

Sighing out a white puff of vapor, Kaito resumed searching for his key inside his pocket – only to discover a very large rip in it. Somehow it had managed to go unnoticed up until now.

Sticking a couple fingers through the hole, he let out an aggravated, "Goddamn it!" and knocked on the door. "Aoko?" he called tentatively, but there was no response.

Deciding that his girlfriend was probably going to lock him out for at least a night from the amount of anger she had displayed, Kaito groaned dejectedly, looking around for some kind of shelter. The apartment beside his and Aoko's belonged to another couple he'd managed to piss off with his pranks, and the other side belonged to a very old lady he didn't have the heart to intrude on. The rest of his neighbors didn't know him, and anyway, he had too much pride to ask them to house him for a night. No doubt they'd ask him why he was locked out, and the answer was all too pitiful.

"No helping it, huh," Kaito said, glancing around the building. The only nearby places that afforded any kind of sheltered were a convenience store – he doubted they'd put up with him for long – and a tree-filled, bench-studded park across the street.

The park seemed his best option, seeing as it was a public place and he probably wouldn't be bothered. Fighting to ignore the chill that had long since sunken its fangs into him, Kaito trekked across the deserted street and hurried up to the nearest bench.

Wincing as he sat down on the icy surface, Kaito breathed out hard, sending a long stream of white vapor from his nose.

He had been best friends with Aoko since… forever, really – and that bothered him. While he'd originally thought it was great that he knew her so well, it had long since turned out to be a disadvantage. It had become difficult to see her as a girl, as his lover, when he'd only ever known her as his mother and sister.

Kaito didn't want to tell her that – she had no problem seeing him as a – her – man. She, after all, had been the one to confess to him, and he had simply gone along with it, seeing it as a "comfortable" option.

They'd moved in together after they'd both graduated college, and Kaito knew that Aoko enjoyed the domestic, newlywed feeling living together probably brought her. She stayed at home, taking care of the cleaning and cooking, while Kaito worked odd jobs during the day and gave magic shows at night (well, when he wasn't doing a heist).

Even though their relationship was usually quite peaceful, Kaito could never help feeling like it was all wrong. His heart – no matter how he tried to tame it – rejected her as a love interest, and he hated having to hide his identity as Kid from her. Recently, the feeling had only grown stronger, and Kaito hated himself for showing his discomfort by treating Aoko more coldly than usual.

Aoko had noticed the shift and responded in kind, treating his standoffishness with standoffishness. The very fact that she'd declared them "over" and had locked him out – perhaps not knowingly, though – on a freezing January day was so unlike her that Kaito was still a little surprised.

"Well, no matter," Kaito muttered to himself, sinking down. He only felt numb – not sad, not depressed, only… maybe just the slightest bit glad it was over. That he didn't have to force himself to have feelings for Aoko, that he didn't have to try to see her as a girlfriend, that he could finally stop hiding his Kid stuff at his old house...

"I'm pathetic," grumbled Kaito. "For those kinds of reasons…"

Suddenly a soft sound broke the still quiet, interrupting the steady flow of Kaito's thoughts. He jerked upright, looking around confusedly. Nothing appeared to have moved.

Blinking, he settled back down, figuring he had only imagine the sound, but a string of other sounds – notes – abruptly followed, dipping into higher and lower pitches fluidly, melting into a perfect blend – entrancing, vibrant, beautiful.

It took Kaito a long moment to realize that the sounds were, in fact, the playing of a violin. He looked around, still not seeing the source of the music. Standing in a slight trance from the enchanting, lilting quality of the ghostly music, he started down the winding path of the park, stopping once the trees drew back to reveal the violinist.

It was a man, one about Kaito's height and size. He stood in profile to Kaito, dressed in a suit and dim moonlight that highlighted his porcelain skin. He cradled the violin against his shoulder, bow gently moving across the strings and producing graceful, elegant sounds as his tanzanite eyes wandered across the navy night sky.

Kaito could only gape at him. Clearly, his frozen brain was producing some kind of mirage, because there was no way there was anyone else in this park at one in the morning, and certainly not someone playing the violin.

Still, his brain certainly was amazing, to conjure up such an attractive man and matching music. Kaito dropped down silently on a nearby bench, eyes riveted on the man and the music. He watched as slender, curved fingers danced over the fingerboard, pressing and moving in a steady rhythm, the bow swooping down and up again and again, slanting and straightening and slanting again…

The violinist carried on for a few more minutes, finally finishing the piece in a slow fade of drawn out notes. Pulling his violin off his shoulder, he spun on Kaito, who jumped at the intense blue of the man's eyes.

"Hey there," the man greeted casually.

Kaito stared. If it was possible, the man's voice was even more amazing than his music. He coughed. "Hi."

"Any particular reason you're here?" the violinist asked curiously, tilting his head to one side.

"Uh, yeah. Kind of." Without elaborating, Kaito wondered, "What about you?"

"I came here to practice, get used to the environment here. I thought I might try playing here sometime."

"So you're a street musician?" Well, that sort of made sense, although practicing at one in the morning was a bit odd.

The man shrugged, sitting down beside Kaito. "I suppose you could put it that way." Accurately reading the expression on Kaito's face, he added, "I didn't think anyone would be around at one in the morning and I wouldn't be interrupted while practicing." He smirked. "Clearly, I was wrong."

"I'm sorry," Kaito growled, slightly nettled, only to elicit a laugh from the musician.

"It's fine. Actually, it's a good thing I had an audience. What did you think?" the man queried, laying his violin across his lap.

Swallowing, Kaito responded, "It was… incredible. Really."

"You think?" The violinist traced his instrument uncertainly. "I don't know about that. But I've always had a special attachment to that piece."

"What piece was it, anyway?"

"Moonlight Sonata, by Beethoven," replied the man. "It always reminds me of one of my greatest failures as a person."

"Huh?" Slightly distressed by the sudden darkening of the man's eyes, Kaito cleared his throat. "I'm… sorry for your loss."

"It's nothing," the musician quickly hurried to assure him with forced cheer. "Anyway, why are you here? You never said," he commented in a translucent attempt to change the subject.

Feeling his heart drop, Kaito sighed. "Oh. That," he said flatly. "My girlfriend – or , ex-girlfriend now – kicked me out. We – or she, I guess – live in that apartment building." He motioned at his former home, exhaling harshly.

"Any specific reason why?" the man questioned inquisitively, glancing over at the apartment building.

Kaito loosened a feeble laugh. "She says I've been distant lately, and my coming home late has always grated on her nerves, but I guess it reached breaking point," he explained listlessly. "I have reasons she wouldn't understand."

A wry smile suddenly worked over his face, and Kaito leaned back, propping himself up on his icy palms. "But I guess this is really for the best. I always found it hard to see her as a lover and not my sister, after all. We were friends for the longest time before we finally started dating."

Suddenly realizing that he was kind of pouring out his sob story on a random stranger, Kaito started, stammering out an apology. "I mean – sorry, I bet you don't even care about that…"

He trailed off at the expression on the man's face – quirked lips, lowered eyebrows, dark blue eyes. An expression that said he understood.

"…Hey?"

"I've been through something quite similar," the man informed, looking over at Kaito. "I was… gone for a very long time, and when I finally got back, she was my sister, not my girlfriend, even when we were dating. It infuriated her, and I was lucky to get out of that relationship alive."

"Alive?"

"Yes, she's… she's a very strong girl, let's put it that way," the man said, grinning, and Kaito smirked, realizing what he meant.

"But really… I think it's a good thing to leave that kind of relationship. You shouldn't have to make her suffer through unrequited love, and you shouldn't have to make yourself love someone," the man continued, sobering. His gaze was focused on the slowly lightening sky as he spoke deliberately and carefully, expression pensive. "It's going to hurt her for a bit, but not as long as it would if you'd kept the relationship intact. And I know it sounds selfish, but I think everyone should be able to find his or her own happiness, and if you stay in a worthless relationship, nobody's going to end up happy. Just…" he seemed to struggle with words for a moment, waving shapes in the air as if trying to pluck thoughts from it. "…it gets better from here. Time keeps moving on. You know?"

Kaito stared at the musician's profile, lips parted. He was both embarrassed and surprised by this stranger's unexpected honesty, his openness. He knew if he'd been in the man's position, he wouldn't stick around to give advice – Kaito might offer a few apologies and sympathetic remarks, but he wouldn't be this truthful, be this genuine.

It was… stunning.

He was stunning.

Kaito was startled when the violinist sighed and grinned tiredly. "What am I doing? Sorry, I was just thinking out loud." He rose, holding his violin by the neck. As he cast a final glance across the park, he commented, "Maybe I will play here someday."

Turning back to hand Kaito one last smile, the violinist turned and exited the park.

Kaito, who had extended a hand to stop him in vain, sighed, relaxing his arm, suddenly remembering how cold he was.

One day, he was going to find that musician – and his smile – and make them his.

Yep, I never even named Shinichi as Shinichi. So if you couldn't tell, he's the violinist.

Originally I was going to do this with Ran kicking out Shinichi and Shinichi finding Kaito practicing magic in the park, but I felt like magic tricks are less soul moving (LOL what) than violin music. So I decided on streetmusician!Shinichi. Although it kind of doesn't make as much sense, considering that Kaito is a magician first and foremost whereas Shinichi's a detective. But whatever ^_^;;.

So... yeah. I don't really know what I was doing with this fic. Not too interesting, I know. But drop a review if you liked it, want a continuation (though I have no ideas for another chapter T_T), or... hated it. Or something. Try to be polite though.

Well, off to write the next chapter for Club Aphrodite! Hope you liked it! - Luna