A.N: This was an idea that came up when I was talking to my sister and I just had to write it. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK.
Pairing: Established KaiShin [KaitoxShinichi]
Summary: The public roars with excitement at the news of a new movie being made starring everyone's idol, the master thief Kaitou KID. And who should they ask to play the part but the rising star of the magical stage, Kuroba Kaito.
Lights, Cameras, Action!
"A movie on Kaitou KID?" Mouri Ran repeated, blinking across the coffee shop table at her petit friend Suzuki Sonoko. "Really?"
"Yeah. They haven't publicly announced it yet, but they've already got the script written out and everything. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be in it!" Sonoko sighed dreamily, her eyes sparkling with imaginary scenes of being on the big screen with the infamous magician thief she had been fantasizing about for years now. Granted, it wouldn't be the same as being with her KID-sama, but it was the next best thing. It was only after several minutes of daydreaming that she finally pulled her attention back to the present. "The thing is they want to find a real magician to play the part—you know, so it'll be more accurate. They were going to ask that guy that performed at my dad's birthday that time, but he's out of the country and not scheduled to be back for a long time. So now they're having trouble finding someone they think could pull it off."
"Really?" Ran asked curiously. "But there are plenty of good magicians they could ask, aren't there?"
"It can't be just anyone!" Sonoko declared, sounding almost indignant as she drew herself up in her seat. "He can't be too old, and he has to be handsome. And there's a lot of action in this movie, or at least that's what I heard, so he has to be athletic."
"All that huh?" Ran mused, trying not to laugh. She could practically hear the obsession in the other girl's voice.
"Well of course. This is the Kaitou KID we're talking about, that's a lot to measure up to."
"Right…"
"The fact that we can't get the real one in the movie just means we have to try harder to find someone who won't dishonor the name!"
Ran stared. Dishonor? The name of a thief? Sometimes she really just couldn't understand how Sonoko's mind worked even though they had known each other practically forever.
"So anyway, I've been trying to help them find someone," Sonoko concluded, taking another bite of her strawberry cake. She spent a few moments chewing as she thought before her eyes lit up with a sudden idea. "Hey, what about that guy, you know, the one who's always hanging around Kudo-kun. I remember he was a pretty good magician, right?"
"You mean Kaito-kun? Yeah. His reviews have all been really good. I think they've been saying he's the most promising magician to have stepped onto a stage in decades."
"Do you know how he is with sports?"
Ran thought for a moment. "Well, I think he's pretty good with them, though Aoko tells me he can't ice skate. Although she's not sure if he's faking that. But I know he can outrun Shinichi, and you know that's not easy to do."
"Perfect! I'll recommend they talk to him then. Oh, this is so exciting!"
X
When Shinichi came down the stairs that evening at the sound of the front door opening to find Kaito doubled over in the entrance hall, paralyzed with laughter, he blinked once then wandered into the kitchen to get himself a fresh cup of coffee. He was too used to the magician's weird ways by now to be easily surprised. When he got back with his coffee to find Kaito still laughing however he began to grow concerned. Not for Kaito though. No, what he was concerned about was what the magician might have done that he found so amusing. Usually the things that amused Kaito only amused Kaito.
"Out of vague curiosity, will we be getting a lot of complaints in the near future?" he asked when the magician's laughter finally reached a lull.
With a visible effort (which said a lot), Kaito finally pulled himself together and straightened, a maniacal grin plastered across his face. "Nope, but we might get fan mail."
Shinichi blinked. That was…not what he had expected. "…What?"
"I got a visit from some interesting people today," Kaito explained. "They were from Shintoki Studio."
"The movie production company the Suzukis help fund?" Shinichi asked, growing more confused by the second.
"Yep. That's the one. They came to ask me if I would act in their upcoming production."
"Okay," Shinichi said slowly, wondering where the catch was. Surely that wasn't what had had Kaito laughing like that.
As though reading his mind, the magician smirked that familiar, razor-edged smirk. "They want me to play Kaitou KID."
Blue eyes blinked once, then again. Had he just heard…? One look into those dancing, indigo eyes told him that yes, he had. It wasn't his ears playing tricks on him. Well, that would certainly explain the laughter.
For his part Shinichi wondered if maybe he should book himself a flight out of the country. Maybe go hide out in America for the next year or so. Or go to England. He'd always wanted to visit London. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea. Certainly better than staying here where he had the feeling that all hell was about to break loose.
"I'm going into the studio tomorrow so they can, ah, interview me." Kaito pronounced the word as though there was something immensely funny about it. "And so I can get to know them. Why don't you come with me?"
And there went his chance to get away. He could tell from the way Kaito asked the question that what he really meant was 'You are coming with me".
"It'll be fun," the magician added as he finished hanging his jacket in the closet and swept into the kitchen, hooking an arm around Shinichi as he went and propelling the detective into the kitchen with him. "Come on, let's eat, I'm starving! On second thought, why don't we go out to eat? We can celebrate!"
"What're we celebrating?" Shinichi asked, mystified.
"All the funny little ways in which the world works."
"Ah."
X
They were met at the studio on the following day by the lead director, Yanagi Junko, and her assistant, Iwamoto Yuji. Kaito was an instant hit. Shinichi watched from the sidelines with a sort of morbid fascination as Kaito put his considerable manipulative talents to use. In no time at all he had extracted not only a written contract guaranteeing Kaito the thief's roll in the movie but also an invitation to help judge the auditions for the rest of the cast and a promise to let him see the rough drafts of the script before they were finalized. It was scary, Shinichi mused, but also kind of funny because neither studio member would ever know that they were talking to the real Kaitou KID.
Well, at least it looked like they were going to get along. Maybe he had been worrying needlessly.
Or maybe not.
The problems started when Kaito got his copy of the script.
"KID would never be taken in by such a ridiculous trap!" Kaito's exclamation shattered the peace in the living room and made Shinichi jump. "Let alone one set up by such a stupid detective! He's the one that sets the traps! And they call that a heist notice? Where's the creativity? He's a genius! Only a simpleton would come up with something like this! It's so obvious!"
"Kai, you're starting to talk about yourself in the third person."
"And you know what else?" Kaito continued, apparently not hearing Shinichi in his outraged tirade. "They made it a love story with this—this totally unsuitable twit of a girl! She has no personality! The way they wrote this makes it sound like all that matters is she's pretty! What kind of person do they take me for?"
"I would like to point out that they don't know you, which is kind of the point of a secret identity."
"That is no excuse!" Tossing the script onto the coffee table with a disgusted flick of his wrist, the magician began to pace, muttering to himself as he did so.
"You shouldn't take it so personally," Shinichi advised, gathering the loose script pages together into a neat stack before going back to the newspapers he'd been perusing. "You getting bent out of shape doesn't change what they want to film."
"This is personal," his partner shot back, pace quickening. "I absolutely refuse to let them spread this rubbish around the media, and I am most certainly not going to be a part of producing such a substandard piece."
"Didn't you already sign the contract?"
"That's irrelevant. Like they say, if you want it done right, do it yourself. I'm going to talk to those idiots they're letting write my movie," he declared abruptly, spinning on his heels and making a beeline for the front door.
Shinichi stared after him for a moment as a furious, internal struggle ensued. Technically speaking, it would be a lot safer (and saner) to stay here at home, find a good book to read and forget about the rest of the world until this whole craziness was over. And he really wanted to do that. But Kaito had just called it 'his' movie. Well, of course he would. The magician was fiercely possessive of the KID name and image. Not to mention protective. Which was understandable. After all, not only was it his own reputation, it was also his father's legacy. His parents and KID's reputation were two of the three subjects that you did not mess with if you wanted to stay on Kuroba Kaito's good side (and you always wanted to be on Kaito's good side. It wasn't healthy to be anywhere else). As it was, the magician had looked ready to kill there when he'd left. Kaito would never kill anyone of course, but he was perfectly capable of making people wish they were dead without causing them any bodily harm.
So, for the sake of the poor screenwriters who had no idea what they had gotten themselves into, Shinichi got up and followed Kaito out the door.
X
Studio security never figured out how Kaito had walked right past them without anyone being the wiser. As it was, Shinichi had to waste a few minutes arguing with said security in order to get them to let him inside. By the time he finally reached the office he remembered being told belonged to the leader of the screenwriting team, the row was already in session.
Kaito was standing over the office's owner who was stuck in his seat—literally. The man's midriff looked like a mummy transplant with all the coils of duct tape that had been wrapped around it to secure him to the back of his chair. If it hadn't been for that, he looked very much like he would have been well on his way out. If Shinichi had to guess, he'd say the man had probably refused to talk and either tried to get Kaito to leave or tried to leave himself.
"This is outrageous!" the man was saying as Shinichi came in.
"You know, the longer you refuse to hear me out, the longer you'll be stuck here," the magician informed him with the cheerful, uncaring tone of someone talking about the weather.
"I do not need amateurs telling me how to do my job," the man snarled back, making Shinichi wince inwardly.
The air around Kaito seemed to still though his expression didn't change a hair.
"This may be my first venture into the movie business, but I'll have you know I've been performing for years. Furthermore, I happen to be an expert on Kaitou KID. I've been following his career since his return," Kaito declared.
"So has half the country," the man snarled back. "You don't see them in here."
"They would be if they knew what your team are up to."
"Oh really?" the man inquired, sarcasm dripping liberally from his voice. "And what exactly is so wrong then, Mister Expert?"
"First of all, KID is a master thief who has never been caught. The character you wrote wouldn't last ten seconds against a decent detective. Luck can only get you so far."
"Oh really?"
"Really. A true magician anticipates all possible reactions from his audience and adapts accordingly." He went on to rattle off a list of problems he had found in the script and how they should be fixed to more accurately portray KID. The list ranged from upgrading the notice to, funnily enough, making the detective in the story 'more intelligent' (then again, Shinichi supposed that shouldn't be surprising. KID couldn't show off properly without a critical eye to challenge his ingenuity).
"Is that all?" the man drawled when Kaito finished.
"As a matter of fact, no. This Midori character is all wrong. KID would never fall in love with someone like that."
"Oh? And I suppose you know what kind of girl the Kaitou KID would like?"
"I certainly know this isn't it," Kaito retorted, brandishing the script in question. "She should be smart for one, and have a sense of humor. She should be witty and kind but have a strong sense of her own ideals and not be too easily influenced by the thoughts of others."
"This is all very interesting," the man cut in, sounding bored out of his mind, "but if you have issues, I suggest you take them up with Junko-san. She has the final say on things. Now if you will remove this abominable tape, I happen to have work to do."
Kaito scowled but Shinichi stepped in hurriedly. "Kaito, I'm sure there's a better way to deal with this."
Kaito cast him a thoughtful look then smirked before the expression smoothed into something less chill-inducing. "You know, you're right. I'm sorry," he added to the man he'd bound to the chair. With a snap of his fingers, the tape vanished. "Let's go, Shinichi."
"Actors," Shinichi heard the screenwriter muttering as they left. "Always thinking they know everything… All I wanted was a good action movie, but no, Junko-san wanted a romance! Now this…"
The moment they were outside the studio again, Shinichi cleared his throat. "What are you planning?"
Kaito shrugged, though that scheming smirk returned. "Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking that this calls for drastic measures."
X
Yanagi Junko was locking up her office for the night when she felt a breeze blow through the room. Confused, since she didn't remember opening the window, she glanced around. In the darkness of the unlit room, the moonlight falling through the window looked unnaturally bright.
And there, perched on the windowsill, was a figure in white that almost everyone in Japan would recognize on sight.
"K—KID!" she gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. She'd loved reading about the magician in the news and even attended a few of his heists, but she had never imagined that she would ever be so close to him. "I…you…why…"
KID chuckled and she blushed, embarrassed at her own inarticulateness but still in awe that he was actually here.
"Well, I heard you were filming a movie about me, so I thought I'd drop by and take a look. This is, after all, my image we're talking about here."
"O—of course," she stammered.
Somehow Shinichi was not at all surprised when Director Yanagi came to him with a request to help improve the movie's heist notice with her eyes still bright in remembered awe.
"I take it you already have the new notice written down somewhere?" he asked Kaito once the woman had gone.
The magician's smug grin said it all.
X
Hakuba Saguru stared across the teashop table in mixed disbelief and incredulity (and maybe some horror) at his girlfriend, his ears still filled with her last handful of words which his brain was busily engaged in finding alternate meanings for. There weren't any. "What?"
"I said Kaito was hired to play KID in that movie they're making that everyone's going on about," Aoko repeated, fiddling with her teacup as her brows wrinkled. "I don't know why they want to make a movie about that thief, but I guess that means Kaito gets to be his idol for a bit."
The blonde snorted.
"But apparently he had a lot of issues with their original script. Kudo-kun told me he's been hassling the screenwriters to make changes."
"What kinds of changes?" Hakuba asked, morbidly curious despite himself. Kuroba wasn't the kind of person who would slip up in such a manner, but he was also a stickler for accuracy when it came to acting.
"Mostly little things I think," she replied. "Some adjustments in story flow and dialogue, a few prop changes, that sort of thing. Except he keeps insisting they alter the character of the main female lead." Although personally she had no idea why it was even an issue. In her opinion a movie on KID had no business being a love story. What girl in her right mind would want to be with that annoying, cocky, arrogant, no good thief? She certainly wouldn't. But movies did generally seem to insist on having romance in them these days, regardless of suitability. "I heard they've been arguing about it a lot. Personally though, I think he's being a bit biased. I saw the list of requirements he wrote the other day. His idea of the ideal female lead for the movie is basically Kudo-kun in a dress."
"Although it occurs to me that hits opinion may be the most accurate," Hakuba said dryly.
Aoko frowned at him. "Saguru… It's been years and there's never been any proof that Kaito is KID, so can't you just let it go already?"
"I'm sorry," he apologized. He had learned over the years to keep that particular theory (or rather belief) to himself while around her, but he just hadn't been able to stop himself with the topic at hand being what it was. He loved her a lot, but for someone who was otherwise very intelligent and clear-sighted, she seemed unable not to turn a blind eye where her childhood friend was concerned. "So how is Kudo-san taking this?" He caught himself before he said 'madness'.
"I think he's been doing his best to keep the peace. I have to admit, I'm glad I don't have to do it. Kaito's always so emphatic when it comes to that stupid thief. I can't imagine it's easy to stop him from just commandeering the whole project."
"Indeed. Perhaps we should bring him more coffee beans."
X
Kaito had decided that if he couldn't rewrite the whole story, he could tweak it himself during the actual filming. He was, after all, a master of manipulation. How a scene came across was really all in the little nuances after all.
"Cut!" the director shouted, waving furiously at the camera crew before turning to frown at Kaito. "You're supposed to be in trouble. You're not supposed to look like you walked into the trap for fun!"
"But this is KID we're talking about," Kaito pointed out, sounding all too reasonable. "Even if he was cornered—which he wouldn't be, by the way—he certainly wouldn't be so incompetent as to look panicky. Hell, any good magician has at least that much of a Poker Face. You wanted a professional magician's knowledge to help make this more believable, didn't you?"
"I—well, yes…" The woman deflated.
The movie was supposed to begin with a heist. That was expected enough. But at said heist KID was supposed to have been cornered by a trap set up by a detective the screenwriters had styled after Mouri Kogoro of all people (Shinichi had had a good laugh at that. Kaito had laughed too until he realized they were actually planning not only to film the great Kaitou KID falling for a trap but a trap set by a Kogoro-esque character). As Kaito had so eloquently put it, "Not even when hell freezes over is that ever happening!". Although the day Mouri Kogoro put together this elaborate a trap for anything, Shinichi would sell his Holmes collection. The trap might not be up to Kaito's standards, but it had still come out of the minds of a team of story writers.
Kaito's rendition of the opening scene therefore felt more as though KID had walked into the trap because he thought it would be a fun pastime and then allowed the girl to help him because he found it amusing (which, while a more accurate portrayal of the thief's persona, didn't have the same urgent affect the director had wanted). At which point they argued again, and again the director lost out to Kaito's relentless lists of reasons why this should be so. Shinichi had the feeling that the director was going to have a head full of white hairs before this whole ordeal was over. It was a good thing she was still too in awe of Kaito's skills to throw him out and get a new actor. Hopefully she would stay that way, because Shinichi knew Kaito was not going to let someone else fill the role, period.
Overall though, the detective was inclined to think that things were going well. They had already filmed several of the opening scenes. Kaito was good at finding all the best ways to make the moments look dramatic, and that at least was one thing everyone agreed was exactly what they wanted. And if he brought a dash more humor into things than the screenwriters had intended, well, that was a rather KID thing to do.
With at least the heist out of the way and to Kaito's satisfaction, Shinichi breathed a sigh of relief. As far as he was concerned, the tricky part was over. The next part of the story circulated mostly around the Midori character following her new found interest in magic to a show which would be, coincidentally, given by KID's civilian counterpart. At the same time, the story's not-Kogoro had also decided to start nosing around the magician's business, suspecting him of being the thief. Kaito's character, Kotojima Akira, on the other hand, notices the familiar young woman in his audience that night and decides to have a little fun and bring her into the show. He would treat her to dinner afterward, and the story moved on from there to be something Shinichi thought was ridiculously sappy but which would be right up Kaito's alley. That, at least, they had gotten right, Shinichi thought with some amusement. Kaito did tend to take the peacock approach to courting. It was embarrassing as anything, but also kind of endearing (although he also had a tendency to show off just for the sake of showing off).
Either way, there wasn't much for Kaito to complain about in these scenes, he thought, except for his continued complaints about the love interest. He had, however, apparently charmed his way into Midori's actress's good graces, and she was fairly amenable to tweaking the character. This meant Shinichi could get back to work without fear of being told that Kaito was holding the screenwriting team hostage or something similarly drastic. He had been spending so much time monitoring the filming that he was falling behind on his case work.
X
Sometimes Shinichi wondered if he was weird. He was the kind of person who brought his work home not because he had to but because he liked to. Now he was curled up on the living room couch with a steaming mug of coffee and a case file open before him, feeling peaceful and content as he listened to Kaito rehearsing lines to himself on the other side of the room. He had already finished solving two of the cases he'd brought home. The third required that he go back to take another look at the scene of the crime, but he was fairly sure he knew how that one was going to pan out too. Now he was on case number four and feeling pretty good about being able to finish that one too. Solving a case always made him feel like he'd accomplished something useful, and at this rate he would be caught up with his work in no time.
"You seem to be on quite the roll there."
Shinichi hummed in agreement, jotting down a few notes. If he was right then… Flipping back a few pages, he studied the photos of the crime scene again. There should be—yes, there it was. He smiled smugly. No one was getting away with murder while he was around.
"I take it from that triumphant look that you've finished?"
"This one anyway," Shinichi replied, shutting the folder with a soft fwap and setting it on the coffee table. He glanced around for the rest of the pile only to see that it had been moved to the other end of said table and effectively out of arm's reach. He frowned, looking up at the magician standing by his seat.
"What?" he asked, feeling a touch cross.
"Practice with me?" Kaito asked, putting on his most charming smile.
Shinichi stared back blankly. "What?"
"Well, you've already done more than enough work today—don't give me that look. You know it's true. So you can help me practice." He brandished his script at the detective for emphasis. "All you have to do is stand here," he pointed to a spot near the window, "and read off the lines answering mine."
"You know I'm not very good at this kind of thing," Shinichi warned, taking the script.
"Don't worry about it. You're just helping me practice, so all you have to do is read it at the right time."
"Why do you suddenly need my help anyway? You were doing just fine by yourself a moment ago," he pointed out, but he moved to stand where Kaito had indicated anyway.
"Aw, come on, it's more fun this way. I'm tired of rehearsing by myself."
"So where do I begin then?"
"I'll start. Just follow along on the script," Kaito instructed, taking up a position a few steps away. "Ready?"
Shinichi nodded and Kaito launched into what turned out to be an extremely sappy declaration of love. The detective turned bright red and quickly read over the script to check that this really was what Kaito was supposed to be rehearsing. Dismayed to find that yes, it was, he thanked whatever powers were listening that Midori didn't have very many lines in this part. He marveled that Kaito wasn't the least bit put off by the goose-bump inducing script.
It was all kinds of embarrassing just standing there and letting the magician recite it at him.
It didn't help that Kaito, being the superb actor that he was, was actually managing to deliver the speech as though he really meant it and not like it was a comedy routine.
A few moments into the rehearsal Shinichi decided to do his utmost best to keep his eyes glued to their progress on the script. That way he could at least suppress the urge to blush. He was therefore caught off guard when strong arms wrapped around his waist and a pair of lips caught his own. His squeak of surprise turned into a quiet moan as a tongue invaded his mouth. He melted into the kiss, sliding his own arms around the magician's neck, quiet content to be there until he remembered what they were supposed to be doing and frowned, pulling away as far as Kaito's hold on him would allow.
"That better not be what you're doing tomorrow."
Kaito blinked, then laughed. "Of course not. You're the only one for me."
"That's a really corny thing to say you know."
"But it's true, and I know you like it. I can see you blushing~."
X
He really shouldn't have come, Shinichi realized as he watched the scene playing out on the set from the back of the studio. The thing was, he hadn't expected himself to be affected by it so much. After all, it was just a stupid movie. A.K.A it was all fake. Hell, he knew they weren't even actually kissing, but it looked like they were (after all, that was the point).
Tearing his eyes off of the actors, he stood up abruptly, gathered the books and papers he'd brought with him, and slipped out of the studio. His stomach was still churning uncomfortably. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He didn't understand why he was so upset. It was pointless and illogical and he was just being an idiot. He refused to be bent out of shape over something so ridiculous.
"Shin-chan?"
Blue eyes snapped open and Shinichi jerked upright, hurriedly straightening out his jacket and picking up his book bag. "Are you done then?"
"I am," Kaito replied absently before leaning in closer to peer into Shinichi's face. "Are you all right? Why did you come out here?"
"N—no reason, I just—wanted a breath of fresh air," Shinichi turned quickly and started walking away. "Do you want to pick up some takeout on our way home?"
Kaito frowned faintly before bounding after him, hooking an arm through Shinichi's and tugging him in a different direction. "Forget takeout. Let's just find somewhere nice and eat out." He didn't know what was bothering his detective, and it looked like Shinichi was in the mood to deny, but he there was nothing a good meal and a healthy dose of affection couldn't fix!
X
"Hakuba! Aoko!"
Years of association made the blonde want to speed up and pretend he hadn't heard that voice calling him, but his companion had already stopped and she still had her arm through his. Therefore he had no choice but to turn and face the owner of the voice.
"Kaito!" Aoko greeted happily. "How are you? I thought you'd be at the studio today."
"Everyone's taking a break today," he replied. "By the way, have there been any real major or nasty murder cases around Tokyo lately?"
Aoko blinked. "Um, not that I'm aware of, but I don't work homicide."
They both turned to look at Hakuba who shook his head. "I don't think so. Why do you ask?"
Kaito's expression grew thoughtful as his hands absently produced a collection of random objects, making them appear and disappear and occasionally turn into one another all apparently of their own accord. "It's just that Shin-chan's been awfully quiet lately. And then this morning he got all mad for no reason."
"No reason?" Hakuba repeated dryly. "Was this nonexistent reason perhaps some kind of prank you pulled?"
The magician shot him an irritated look. "No, as a matter of fact, it wasn't."
"So what exactly were you two talking about when Kudo-kun got upset?" Aoko asked.
"We weren't really talking about anything. I just asked him again to come with me to the filming tomorrow since it's going to be one of the last ones and he yelled at me then ran off to hide at the police station."
"Again?" Aoko repeated, confused. "Hasn't he been going with you to all the filming sessions?"
Kaito shook his head. "He did at the beginning, but he stopped going a few weeks ago."
"Have you considered the possibility that he simply doesn't feel like going?" Hakuba asked.
Kaito shot him an irritated look. "He wouldn't have yelled if it was just that."
"I don't suppose you have the script with you?" Aoko asked suddenly.
"Only the last few scenes." The magician snapped his fingers and pulled the papers out of the air. "Why?"
"Let me see." She snatched them from him and paged through it. "Which ones are you doing tomorrow?"
"The second to last."
Aoko nodded, skimming over the words before her. She skipped over the part about KID and the police joining forces to take down a madman bent on blowing up the entire city of Tokyo and settled on the final scenes which took place at a train station. She was silent for a long moment before she snorted.
"I'm not surprised he doesn't want to go. I wouldn't want to if I were him either."
"Why not?" Kaito took the script back and read it over again himself. He would have to tweak the dialogue a bit, but otherwise it looked like your typical end of a movie.
Aoko rolled her eyes. "Well, what would you do if you had to watch Kudo-kun kissing someone else?"
"Mail the trespasser to Timbuktu," the magician replied without hesitation. And then make sure Shin-chan couldn't think about anyone but him (his poor detective didn't need memories like that after all). Master thieves did not get stolen from. And he did not do sharing. Just imagining it was making him twitch. He knew Shinichi would never do anything like that, but that didn't mean someone else might not try something, especially since it wasn't exactly common knowledge that they were dating. And Shin-chan wasn't all that good at picking up on these kinds of things when they had anything to do with him.
"Looking a bit creepy there," Hakuba muttered, suppressing the urge to step away.
"My point is," Aoko continued, "you can't blame him for not wanting to come watch the filming all considered."
"But he knows it doesn't mean anything."
"Would that make a difference to you?"
"…No," Kaito admitted. "But I would take it into consideration."
"Now we know where to look if anyone around Kudo-san goes missing," Hakuba said under his breath. Aoko elbowed him.
X
Work was, Shinichi had decided a long time ago, the best distraction for taking his mind off things. It took concentration and was productive to boot. So he had buried himself in it the moment he reached the station. Vaguely he remembered hearing as the people around him took their farewells one after the other, but he was too wrapped up in the world of words and photos to care, though his mouth said his goodbyes for him on autopilot. He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, but he must have because the next thing he was aware of was the sound of someone humming quietly and the sensation of being rocked gently back and forth.
Confused, he opened his eyes to see that he was still at the police station. Sprawled out on the desk before him were the files he'd been looking through earlier that night. However he was no longer seated on his chair. Instead he had been sleeping curled up on someone's lap, being cuddled. He had a pretty good idea of who it was (or who it had better be), but he was a little confused as to why he was there and why he hadn't just woken Shinichi up. He didn't say anything though, just closed his eyes again and listened to the magician's quiet humming. He would, he thought, be perfectly content to just stay like this for as long as time would allow.
The humming trailed off eventually. "Shin-chan? Are you awake?"
Shinichi remained silent for a long moment before giving in to the inevitable and answering. "Yeah. So why are you here?"
"To get you of course," came the matter-of-fact reply. The real question is, why are you still here?"
"I…just had a lot on my mind."
"Really?" Kaito chuckled. "You're the only person I know who solves murders to take his mind off things."
"How do you know it wasn't the cases on my mind?" Shinichi countered.
"Because I know you." He paused, letting out a quiet sigh as he ran his fingers through the detective's hair. "You know, if it bothers you, you could have just said something."
Shinichi didn't bother asking him what he meant. "But it's stupid to be bothered by it," he muttered, not looking up. "It's just acting."
"I know you would like to think you can live your life all logically Shin-chan, but humans don't work that way."
"Well, they should," the detective replied. "There would be a lot fewer problems in the world if they did."
"And probably a lot less fun," Kaito chuckled. "But really, you know I love you right?"
"I know. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier.."
"It's okay. But next time just tell me what's bothering you instead of taking the long way round, all right? Even I can't read minds."
"I'll try."
"Good. Now, if you're feeling better, I'm starving. I've been waiting for you to wake up for nearly an hour!"
X
In the end, Shinichi didn't go to the filming the following day, though he did go the day after that to watch them film the glider scenes, which they had left to last as the props department struggled to put together a convincing replica of KID's glider from newspaper photos and news videos.
"This thing will never fly," Kaito told the film crew as he poked dubiously at the glider in question. It looked accurate enough, but that was all it really had going for it.
"It doesn't have to," Yanagi-san explained. "We'll be using invisible wire and the green screen."
The magician made a face at the revelation. "That's boring."
"I'm sorry, but it's the best they could do." She paused. "What are you doing?"
"The materials sturdy enough. Just let me adjust this a bit…" Indigo eyes narrowed as Kaito began to dismantle the glider contraption.
"Wait, Kuroba-san!" she started, alarmed, but then she thought about all the other times something like this had happened and decided to save her breath. Half an hour later the magician stood up with a triumphant grin and turned to give her a thumbs up.
"All done. It won't open and close like KID's, but it should hold for a few flights."
"I don't mean to doubt your work," she replied warily, "but you do realize that if your modifications don't work and you really try to fly with them you're going to get hurt."
"But they will work, so it's not a problem. We can still use the green screen for the night scenes, but the daylight ones we can do for real now."
"…"
"If it makes you feel better, I can bring a parachute. As long as I know where all the cameras are, it shouldn't be hard to keep it out of sight."
It wasn't hard to see how reluctant she was to agree to the idea, but eventually the film crew was relocated outdoors (just about everyone in the studio had given up on fighting Kaito over anything by now). The longest flight sequence, as well as the most important, was meant to take place at sunset. It was still early afternoon, but since it was a spur of the moment decision it took some time to arrange a location and set up the cameras. By the time everything was ready the sky was aglow with the gold and orange shades of the setting sun.
Standing by Kaito's designated landing spot, Shinichi watched along with the rest of the crew as the magician left the distant building top and soared easily over the gold-drenched landscape below. Everyone else was watching with bated breath, but the detective just smiled to himself. He knew Kaito would be fine.
As the magician's feet touched ground, relieved sighs and cheers rang through the crew. Kaito flashed them all a victory sign then bounded over to Shinichi pulling him into a quick kiss. The detective's eyes popped wide open and he whacked Kaito upside the head, knocking his costume hat off. Then, face burning, he peeked at the silent film crew.
"Well," someone on the camera crew remarked to the gathering at large. "I bet that picture would've sold tickets. But I guess it would be misleading."
Kaito burst out laughing.
X
When the previews for the movie The Moonlight Magician first hit the television channels it was met by roars of excitement from the many KID fans all across the country and roars of outrage from the head of the KID task force, one Nakamori Ginzo.
"They're making him out to be a damned hero!" his furious bellows could be heard from all the way outside of the Ekoda police station.
"Haven't they always kind of done that?" one of the officers whispered to another.
"Never like this," his companion whispered back, grimacing. "It's not fair, is it? He's the criminal, but he still gets all the glory."
"Tell me about it," the first speaker sighed. "Even my daughter's always talking about him! I'm her father. You'd think she'd spare some admiration for me."
His fellow officer patted him sympathetically on the back as Nakamori continued to rant.
X
"Oi, Kudo! Did you see the news about that new movie?"
"It's kind of hard for me not to," Shinichi replied, rolling his eyes even though he knew Hattori couldn't see him on the other end of the phone line. "Especially since Kaito was acting the part for KID."
There was a pause. "Really?"
"Yeah."
Another pause. "So how's Hakuba taking it?"
Shinichi blinked. "Uh… I don't know, I haven't asked."
"Right," the Osakan said, sounding gleeful. "I'll just give 'im a call then. Talk to you later."
The phone went dead. Shinichi gave it a long look before setting it aside and turning back to the chess board before him.
"That was awful quick for a call from Tantei-han," Kaito observed from the other side of the board.
"I think he's more interested in calling Hakuba so he can crow over Hakuba still having no evidence to back his claim even with this movie business going on."
Kaito smirked. "Why am I not surprised?"
Shinichi just shook his head. "Because they're childish like that."
"You know, they're having a prescreening this weekend."
"I remember."
"An invitation arrived for us in the mail this morning."
The detective picked up a rook and moved it forward. "That's hardly a surprise either."
"I guess not," Kaito agreed. "So do you want to go?"
Shinichi hesitated a long moment before lifting his gaze from the board to meet Kaito's. "I guess I wouldn't mind watching it as long as you're with me. It's just a movie after all."
And in the end, no matter how realistic the movie turned out to appear, it would never be as real as the story he and Kaito shared.
A few weeks later, they really did get fan mail.
Owari
A.N: And there we go! Something to commemorate a leap year, hehe.