Christmas at the Beach- Chapter 1
Magic Kaito- Fanfic 1
Started 6/28/2012
Cerulean waves crashed along the sandy beach, leaving cool foam in its wake as it pulled back in, drawing less and less as the tide came in. The sky was oddly clear and warm for the beginning of the winter holiday, but Nakamori Aoko did not care. Not at all.
She had won the terrifying bet against her father, police inspector Nakamori Ginzo, and their short family vacation was spent going to a more southern and lowest altitude location. Inspector Nakamori wanted to go skiing, regardless to his daughter's obvious inability to do anything in the cold.
"You know I feel cold all the time, Tousan! Why would you think I would want to go someplace colder?" Her argument was not sound enough, so she laid a wager.
It was not a nice wager, nor was it fair, but she was going to take the chance.
"Winner gets to choose vacation location for winter. I wager that Kaitou Kid will steal something this next week. AND he will return it via post to your office the next day." Aoko remembered her sweaty palms that she hid by balling up her fingers before pointing to her father.
"I wager that he will send a notice tomorrow and that I'll catch him with prize in hand!"
The next day, Aoko sat at her desk before the morning bell groaning into her hands.
"Ohayo, Aoko!"
Kuraba Kaito stared at the top of Aoko's head as she ignored his usual morning greeting. His eyebrows creased together even so minutely, Poker Face is not to be broken. A grin replaced his worry. Whenever he, the wonderful magician Kaito, worried about his best friend, he always knew how to make her smile again. If she smiled, he did not worry.
A rose popped into his hand and twirling it, he brushed the velvet petals softly along her exposed cheek, to her knuckles, down to the wrists visible above the cuffs of her uniform sleeves. Up and down again went the flower, each time, a little more pressure, an extra twirl.
Slowly, like she was waking up, Aoko pulled her hands from her face, confusion etched on her brow as she looked at the travelling rose.
"Ohayo, Aoko." Kaito repeated his previous words, an easy grin on his lips.
"O-ohayo, Kaito." She blinked her confusion away as her eyes moved from the flower to her friend's face. When the stem was offered to her, she took it from Kaito's fingers, bringing it to her nose to breathe in its soft scent.
"What's on your mind that has you moping so early in the morning?" Kaito put his bag on his desk and sat down, swiveling to face Aoko.
"Oh." Aoko deflated a little, her fingers no longer playing with the soft petals. "I made a stupid bet with my dad last night. About picking where we'd go for vacation."
"Where did the Inspector want to go this year?" Usually, Aoko was happy to spend her father's vacation days wherever the Inspector wanted.
"Skiing." Aoko sighed. Kaito knew she didn't like the cold. She always had a sweater and always stole his jacket when he didn't need it.
"Hm. Whaddya bet?"
"That Kaitou Kid would steal something this week and mail it Dad the next day." Aoko sighed heavily, but didn't hide behind her hands again. "Dad bet that Kid would send a message tomorrow and that he'll catch Kid with the prize."
"You'll know tomorrow, won't you? If your Dad doesn't get the notice tomorrow, then he loses, right?" Kaito watched as Aoko shook her head.
"Just because his bet doesn't happen, does not mean that it is my win. I'd have to win out-right for me to pick the vacation spot."
"Where do you want to go?" Kaito was already thinking of plans.
"The beach. As far away from snow as I can get my father to go." The inspector liked to be able to get back to his office at a moment's notice if something came up.
"The beach at winter… Only you would want to go there, Aoko!" Kaito ruffled her hair before she even knew what was happening.
"It'll be quiet. I think it's something my Dad needs. Especially with all these thefts Kid is doing. He's really wearing my dad down." Aoko looked sadly at the rose in her hands.
Before Kaito could reply, the bell sounded and people shuffled around them. Aoko carefully placed the flower in the clasp of her bag before pulling out her books. Kaito turned his mind to his heist.
The famous bangle was supposed to be shown in two days. He normally sent the message the day before the theft, and that was a day before it was to be displayed. The plan had been to send the message on the way home from school, but that would give Inspector Nakamori points towards his bet before Aoko, so he headed straight home after school. He could send the note early the day of the heist. It would mean the police would scramble, but it also gave him less time to do recon. It was always safer to do surveillance once the plan was set. Stealing with the advisories still moving was tricky; unnecessarily so.
Inspector Nakamori was getting complacent. It was time for a surprise. Kaitou Kid would steal the bracelet after the exhibit started. As much as Kaito wanted to prepare for the theft, he had exams to study for, so, with a sigh, he pulled his study materials closer to him.
"Kaito! I'm home!" Chikage, Kaito's mother, called up to his room. "Come say hello to your mother!"
Grumbling about impatience, Kaito was already at his door when he first heard the door unlock downstairs. Chikage was rolling luggage and dragging bags into the hallway as Kaito reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Welcome home, Kaa-san." Kaito was swept up into a fierce hug as Chikage dropped her purse. "I can't breathe."
Laughing, his mother released him and looked him over. Without warning, she poked his stomach and grinned.
"Using the hang glider really works your abs. Toichi-san had such nice muscles. Aoko-chan is a lucky girl to have such a fit boyfriend." Chikage grinned wickedly and shook her finder as Kaito turned red and opened his mouth. "Poker face, dear. Don't break it."
"She's not my girlfriend." Kaito mumbled as his mother piled bags into his hands. With a sigh, he trudged up to Chikage's room and dumped her bags on her bed. She followed soon after with her suitcase.
"Shouldn't you be preparing to steal the Silver Duchess Cuff?" Chikage pulled a pamphlet from her purse. The museum had advertisers standing in the airport when she landed.
"Something came up, I'll steal it in a few days."
"This wouldn't be for a specific reason, would it? Say, to help a poor girl in distress?" Chikage sorted her bags out as Kaito perched on her bed.
"Wha-? How'd you hear about that?"
A small Cheshire grin spread across her lips. She only responded, "I have my ways. Besides, we have other important topics to talk about; like where we're going for vacation."
"I'm fine going anywhere."
"What about the Nakamori's? Do you know where they're going?"
"The beach. If I have anything to do with it… What?" Kaito stood up defiantly as his mother smiled at him.
"Nothing, dear. Let me change and we can get some dinner, okay?" Kaito left the room, Chikage's giggles dancing in the air.
Aoko sat in front of the glowing TV, watching half-mindedly as the news reporter talked about a new restaurant opening in the next town. It was late, but her father hadn't come home. There was a message on the answering machine telling Aoko to feed herself and to make sure to lock the doors before going to bed.
The Inspector was going to stay at his office until after midnight to ensure the note from Kaitou Kid would win his side of the bet. Silence, except for the ticking clock, hovered in the air, lulling Ginzo into a daze. His mind wandered from the open file on Kid as he thought about his daughter.
'She never complained about our vacations before. It must be this female teenager thing people keep warning me about. I wonder if there is a cure for that.' Ginzo picked up his coffee cup and tipped it back, only to find that it was bone dry. 'Someone drank all my coffee.'
His alarm went off.
Midnight.
No note.
He looked at his computer, several newspaper headlines were piled on his desktop, each denoting a precious piece going on display that week. Most notably was the Silver Duchess Cuff premiering the next day.
'Kaitou Kid must be aiming for something else, or he would have left a note for tomorrow night.' Ginzo thought to himself. Little did he know how wrong he was.
With a sigh, Inspector Nakamori cleaned up his desk and headed home.