A/N: Yo!~ Yep. Still alive. Struggling. But alive, yes. Still here to bring you guys something to read about. This time we have our favorite magician and our favorite group of kids. Read on and find out. Disclaimers can be found below this chapter.
Warning for Cutesy-flirty Masumi and Fangirl Kaito.
Oh, right. Slight spoilers for the "Girls' Rock Band" DC chapters.
Voice Lessons
Kaito teams up with the Shounen Tanteidan to form a band. Only… there's one tiny problem… Post-Kaitou KID. Written for Poirot Cafe's Short Story Contest#9: Rehearsals. Slight spoilers for the "Girls' Rock Band" chapters.
Kaito swayed his head, immersed in the melody made by instruments that were, until six months ago, utterly useless in the hands of five third graders.
Indeed, on either side of him, stood Shounen Tanteidan: level-headed Mitsuhiko on trumpet, head-turner Ai on keyboard, sweet Ayumi on bass, Mr. I-Don't-Miss-a-Beat Genta on percussions, and show-stopper Conan on lead guitar. As Kaito's cue to sing comes in, a wide grin curved his lips. Everything's going as he expected.
"Sotto me wo tojireba…" The former thief-turned-vocalist sang in a soothing tone. Truly, the song speaks to him the way he would speak to himself about cherishing memories. His smile grew wider as he sang his way into the stanza, ending it up with a bittersweet, "Mabushii mama."
Yes. This is happiness—that need to let it all go and be himself, all in a song his heart resonates…
Until a sound resembling a dying cat ruined it. For the nth time that day.
"KAAAAAAAERITAKUTEKAAAEEERENAAAAAKUTEEE"
A nerve on his temple finally snapped, making him cringe in annoyance. Yep. That was show-stopper Conan, all right?
In seconds, Kaito was already turning to face the group, waving his arms frantically.
"No! Nno! Nononononononononnnno! STOOOP!" he shrieked, and the children halted in discord.
"Tantei-kuuun! Can you please stop ruining the song?!" the magician reprimanded, only to have Mitsuhiko and Ayumi defend their shrunken friend.
"Kaito-niichan, don't be mean!"
"Conan-kun's tone-deaf, after all."
The brunette blinked. Come to think of it, before today, he's never heard the midget sing. And he came to the conclusion that he could because… well… He plays an instrument, so doesn't that mean he should be able to sing as well?
"What?" Kaito exhaled, the word coming out like a whisper.
"To be fair it's probably the one flaw he's got as a human being," Genta all-too happily informed the teen, who stood there dumbstruck for a whole minute. When he spoke again, it was in a high-pitched voice.
"Then why didn't anyone warn me?" asked he, arms stretched as if demanding an explanation.
To this, Haibara rolled her eyes and stated, "Because you'll freak!"
"You very well know I'll freak!" the magician replied and, turning to Conan, added, "Why the hell can't you sing?!"
"Geez, Kaito, chill out! Why so serious?" a certain female detective—and self-appointed manager of Kaito's up-and-coming band—hollered as she entered the room.
The group she so proudly dubbed Kaito and the KIDs ("And if you're unfamiliar with KID's civilian persona, you'll think it's a cleverly thought-up pun, with the group's signature tiny top hats and monocles," said she) dispersed as Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi ran to greet her.
"Sera-no-neechan!"
Masumi, in turn, gave each of them fist-bumps, before proceeding to give Kaito a back-breaking hug.
"Having troubles for your first gig already?" the female detective asked, both their faces a shade of pink. Said guy pouted at her, but deep inside feeling a little giddy with her display of affection.
"Really, Massu… I don't see why you should be here."
"Conan-kun plays bass right?" she queried, skipped to the direction of the bespectacled child and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm here to help him practice."
"Nope, he plays lead guitar. Ayumi's on bass. We switched it up a little. But that's beside the point." Here, Kaito settled down and glared at Conan's direction. "The little smug-face thinks we can pull this off while he can't even sing one note right."
The shrunken sleuth grumbled in frustration and shouted, "I'm tone-deaf, KID, not deaf!"
Masumi snickered and ruffled Conan's hair in amusement, much to the said guy's chagrin. "Heheh, so you are, Conan-kuun~"
"So…" the band's manager began, grabbed the sheet music, took her place beside Kaito and asked, "Why are you so dead-set on performing this song anyway?"
"I figured, since we have a Takayama Minami-sounding person, it'll work like magic but—"
"We're a little lacking on the vocals department," interrupted Ai, who sat by the keyboards, skimming through a magazine.
"Kaito-niichan thought we should all get to sing," says a gleeful Mitsuhiko.
All throughout, Masumi nodded and hummed as she listened to the kids' commentaries. When they're done, olive eyes rested on the magician as she sarcastically commented with a snort, "And you think singing with Conan-kun will do it?"
"Sera-no-neechan!" Conan screamed, deep sapphire eyes filled with embarrassment and harmless threat. To which, Sera just giggled.
"Heeheeh, sorry Little Dude. Can't help it."
Then she added as consolation, "But, if it makes you feel better… Conan-kun, you play at least one instrument, yes?"
"Yeah? What about it?" said he half-lidded.
"Then it's nothing a little practice can't fix," Masumi informed as-a-matter-of-factly.
"So what do you suggest we do?" asked Kaito, to which the detective smiled her snaggletooth grin and announced proudly, "Don't sweat it, Kai-cchin. Leave that to me~"
"Anyway, if we can't get him to sing within one week I'm kicking him out," the magician commented with an eye roll, but flinched when the children screamed in unison.
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"
"It's a band with Conan-kun, tone-deaf and all, or nothing at all!" little Ayumi reasoned.
Flabbergasted Kaito gave Masumi a distressed look, which she returned with a shrug.
"You heard 'em Kaito. Practice adjourned!"
With that, the kids cheered in glee, grabbed their stuff and ran out, leaving the leader of the group in utter confusion. Even Haibara didn't have anything to say about it and exited the room like a normal person.
The last one to go was Conan, after Masumi informed him to meet them there tomorrow. When she turned to face Kaito, she found him standing with his arms crossed together.
"You sure a coach could fix the problem?"
"Sure it can!" was her carefree reply. "How did you think you got so good with your fingers? All he needs is practice."
Unsatisfied with the answer, he muttered, "I have a feeling you're just toying with me."
"I know people. You," she gave Kaito a playful punch on the chest, "just don't trust me enough…"
"Of course I do, Micchan. I'm just curious about this vocal coach…"
And Kaito trailed off, noticing Sera's devilish smirk.
With suspicious eyes, he asked her, "Hey, you're not gonna say it's really Takayama Minami, are ya? Or… better yet, Miyano Mamoru? Cos if it's either of them I'd scream like a girly-girl for real."
Amused by her crush's quirks, she chuckled as she got her phone out and texted away. "Nope. Even better~"
The next day, Kaito froze in shock when he saw a familiar head of blonde hair…
Post Chapter Disclaimers: DCMK is not mine, sadly. If it was Hakuba would appear more often. Kaito and the KIDs is not mine either, nor is it Sera Masumi's. It's the brainchild of Mikauzoran when her babies woke her up in the ungodly hours of the morning, or so I've heard. I used it with her permission, of course (*high-fives Mikau* Stay awesome, awesome dude!~). This fic is done with a bit of KaiSumi experimentation, just to see how they would look together. So it's a Post-Kaitou KID, Pre-KaiSumi fic. Despite that I'm still a true blue KaiAo fan struggling with my miltichaptered fics. Forgive me.
Oh, also, the song used, Omoidetachi, is performed by Takayama Minami as Edogawa Conan, and is in no way mine.
A/N: So yeah, this is set around two years after canon. So basically Kaito and Masumi are already in college, and the kids, within the time period, managed to learn playing instruments. I have this thinking that maybe they had the other DCMK help them with the process. Y'know, like, maybe Ai-chan learned from Ran, Ayumi learned from Sera, Conan probably learned from Amuro-no-niisan, Mit-chan and Genta learned on their own because they're cool that way (ROFL). Like Kaito said, they switched the instruments a little, so it's very probable that Mit-chan can also play bass, or that Ayumi can also play the keyboards, or that Conan can also play the bass. But then that's another story altogether. Also, within that time period, Kaito could've drifted apart from Aoko, what with the whole KID-issue going on, and that he and Hakuba befriended Sera somehow... But that, too is another story for another time.
And yeah, as you've noticed I threw in one or two real people's names in there just for the fun of it. Kaito secretly fangirling over Two-Mix is a headcanon of mine. AND NO, dear Kaito, unfortunately, Takayama-san and Miyano-san's schedules are probably booked (for those who do not know Takayama Minami is Conan's VA. She's also Aoko's VA in the Gathering of the Detectives episode and the Crystal Mother OVA. Miyano Mamoru, meanwhile, is Hakuba's VA in the Magic Kaito 1412 anime). So, no, even if Masumi wants to get them as Conan's vocal coach, she can't. *nods*
Anyways, this fic is still not done. Lemme know what you guys think. Also watch out for the omake. Let's see what the "familiar head of blonde hair" person does to make Conan sing in tune. *snickers*
REVIEWS ARE LOOOOVED! Stay awesome, awesome people *cyber hugs everywhere*
-neonquincy1217