Mikau: Hi all! Here we have my entry for the Poirot Café Forum's Super Short Contest 20: Carnival. I really struggled with coming up with an idea that would fit in one thousand words for this one. I wanted to do an elaborate masquerade ball scene, but it just didn't work. I am, however, quite happy with how this turned out. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be more Kaito in drag. It's always amusing, and it seems to fry some of the other characters' brains in humorous ways.

…...

Revelry in Blue

The entire strip from the Teimuzu River to the Haido City Shopping Mall had been closed off for a weekend-long, Mardi Gras-style street party, and all of the yahoos had come out of the woodwork, including KID.

Stilt-walkers, fire-eaters, jugglers, and all manner of street performers lined the boulevard while the city's inhabitants-gone-crazy flooded the pavement in their body paint, glitter, and beads.

Hakuba tried not to see the copious amounts of flesh his fellow citizens felt comfortable baring when their identities were hidden behind masks. He looked away as the two intoxicated Harlequins next to him began to engage in a tonsil hockey match.

He mentally cursed KID for dragging him into this cesspool of debauchery. It had been a last minute affair, a heist note sent the morning before for the tiara with which the winner of the drag queen competition would be crowned. Saguru had learned of it the preceding evening upon his release from the hospital.

The detective jumped as his mobile began to vibrate, and he retreated to a comparatively quiet alleyway off the main thoroughfare, away from the raucous din.

"How's it going?" his father inquired hesitantly. "Are you having fun?"

Saguru pursed his lips, reminding himself that the Superintendent meant well. The elder Hakuba had been quite attentive (on edge, fearful of a second attempt) after "The Incident" earlier that week.

Saguru cleared his throat and tried to make himself audible over the roar of the crowd. "Father, I'm working; I'm not here to amuse myself."

"But there's still two hours before KID is scheduled to show, and you should have a good time while you're young. You work too hard, Saguru," his father reasoned, cajoling.

"I have a thief to catch and no time for a social life." Saguru quickly nipped their discussion in the bud, not bothering to add that this bacchanalia was hardly his idea of fun. "I'll see you when I get home, Father."

"…Be safe." Hakuba Sr. reluctantly let his son go.

With a sigh, Saguru stuffed the phone back into his pocket and headed up a nearby fire escape to get a better view of the carnival grounds.

Much to his surprise, at the top he found a young woman decked out in the diaphanous chiffon and shimmering coins of a belly dancer who seemed to have had the same idea.

She turned and gave a start at finding herself suddenly in close quarters, alone with a stranger.

Saguru tried not to stare at her exposed collarbone, hips, or the fearless slit of her skirts that bared her thigh. He held up his hands in a placating gesture, apologized for disturbing and startling her, and then turned to go.

"Wait!" she called, awkwardly reaching across him to grab his right wrist instead of the closer, yet injured left.

This immediately caught Saguru's attention because the movement was so unnatural. He chided himself for seeing KID everywhere, but…the bandages were invisible under his shirt, so the only way she could have known to avoid the left wrist was if she had already known it was injured. KID/Kuroba, cognizant of The Incident, no doubt, and aware that Saguru was right-handed, would have been able to deduce that the left wrist was the one that he had slit.

"Don't let me chase you away," she(?) entreated, smiling disarmingly. "You just surprised me. I'm really fine, and, after all, you wanted to see, didn't you?" The girl gently tugged him over to the railing and gestured at the vibrant colors and flashing lights. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Hakuba wordlessly observed the spectacle below them, keeping one eye the whole time on his companion. Now that he had ostensibly found his target, all he had to do was keep her(?) under surveillance until the time of the heist drew near.

They stood in silence for several minutes, looking out at the cityscape.

"That's a nice mask," she hummed softly, almost sadly. "It looks so authentic that I didn't even notice. I'm sorry," she apologized earnestly with genuine sorrow in her voice.

Saguru turned to scrutinize his companion, confusion wrinkling his brow. "I'm not wearing a mask."

She smiled ruefully, turning to meet his gaze. "We all wear masks. I wear a mask most of the time, but even I have people I can take it off in front of. It's dangerous if you don't…and I'm sorry that there wasn't anyone you felt you could trust enough to take yours off for."

Saguru tensed, certain now that he knew with whom he was speaking. "…What are you saying?"

She shrugged, looking away, appearing ashamed. "I'm saying that I wish I hadn't been so dumb as to take you at face value. I didn't pay close enough attention, and it almost cost me dearly. I wish I could go back and change that, but the only thing I have control over now is what happens here on out."

She tentatively looked up at him once more. "You have a classmate who's been worried sick about you this week. He's been beating himself up for letting this happen when he could have helped. He—"

"—What could he have done, I wonder?" Saguru snorted skeptically.

She winced. "Maybe nothing, but since he struggles, toing the same line you tried to cross this week, maybe sharing the load could have helped…but I hope you'll consider giving him a second chance. He's truly desperate for it. And that's all I have to say."

Saguru's eyes widened as the woman turned to leave. "I-I'll consider it," he blurted out, visibly surprising her. "I…never realized he was wearing that kind of mask either, so I suppose I'm just as guilty as he is. I don't know what my final answer will be, but the least I can do is consider it."

She smiled, a rendition of KID's smirk only a few shades lighter. "That's all I ask."

"And, KID?" Saguru called as his rival began descending the steps. "If you don't win the drag queen contest, I'll eat my hat. I imagine they'll require proof that you're not biologically female, though."

The thief snickered, replying in his usual KID voice. "That's the plan, Tantei-san. I'm anticipating with pleasure the looks on their faces."

The

End

…

Mikau: So, after two different reviewers asked me what "The Incident" was, it became apparent that I had been too subtle and people didn't get that Hakuba had tried to commit suicide by slitting his wrist and that that was why he had been in the hospital and why his left wrist was bandaged and why KID could deduce that it was the left wrist that was injured because he knew that Hakuba was right-handed. So I went back and changed the wording of one or two phrases, and hopefully that'll make it a bit more obvious.