Disclaimer: I don't own the DCMK characters.


Smile for Me

2: The Arrangement

Letting his breath out in a short puff, Shinichi perched himself on the very edge of the couch in the suite's sitting room and het his eyes wander over the walls and furnishings once more. He had already made a circuit of the suite while he waited for Kaito to return (after trying the door anyway. It had, however, been locked from the outside—which was odd in itself since the lock didn't look like the kind that could be secured from the outside. But he'd decided that really wasn't important). In addition to the sitting room and the bedroom, there was a study and a bathroom. All the furniture in the room was clearly of good quality and craftsmanship. A look out one of the windows revealed that the suite was on the upper floor of a building that stood somewhere in the midst of sprawling green lawns and well-tended groves of trees. So even if he did manage to get out of the building, he would surely be spotted long before he found cover. In the distance, he could see the hint of city buildings. If he had to guess, he'd say he was currently on the grounds of one of the estates on the outskirts of the city proper. So this Kaito had to be a member of a very wealthy family.

That begged the question, what could the guy possibly want from him?

He stewed over the question as he idly traced the clover pattern on one of the couch cushions. They were all four-leaf clovers, he noted absentmindedly. The same leaf appeared on a lot of the items in the suite. Even the translucent, white curtains had denser, white clovers stitched along the edges. Something about that niggled at the back of his mind, but his attention was diverted by the return of his captor.

Kaito had a rather large tray with him. On it lay an assortment of pies of varying sizes. With both his hands occupied, Shinichi was expecting him to either close the door with a foot or a shoulder. Instead, his captor only cast it a pointed look. The door swung shut under his gaze as though being pushed by an invisible hand and the soft click of the lock turning itself could be heard.

Blue eyes widened in shock as Shinichi's heart rate sped up again. Oh no, this young man was a magic user! That meant he wasn't just a member of some wealthy family. He had to have roots within the aristocracy.

"You didn't say what kind of pie, so I just asked for a few different ones," his captor was saying with a cheerful grin as he set the tray down on the table before the couch. "This one's chicken, and this one's vegetarian. Then this one here is apple, the one with the cream is banana, here's a lemon one, and this last one is strawberry. But first, the coffee!" Picking up the steaming pot that had also been on the tray, Kaito poured a generous amount into a mug and slid it across the table. "So, what kind of pie would you like? Or maybe a piece of each? They're not all that big. We could split them all half-half."

"I—I'll just…have a slice of the chicken one and the lemon one…" Shinichi stammered, trying not to gape. He hadn't really been serious when he'd made his request. All he'd wanted was a moment alone to collect his wits and look around to see if there was a way out. He hadn't exactly expected his kidnapper to go to such lengths over the issue, and he definitely hadn't expected to be offered a whole assortment to pick from. They all looked freshly baked too. The delicious aromas were making his mouth water and his stomach growl embarrassingly as it reminded him of how empty it had been all day.

"Right. Chicken first, I assume?"

He nodded mutely then took a large gulp of coffee.

Kaito produced a plate with a flick of his wrist. Then he gestured at the chicken pie. A perfect wedge lifted itself from the tin without the aid of any knife or other tool. It flew over to the waiting plate and set down gently. A fork was slid onto the dish next to it before Kaito offered the whole set to Shinichi as though nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened. That done, he procured a slice for himself as well and took a seat in one of the armchairs opposite the couch.

"So," he started, indigo eyes turning serious. "I have a problem that I was hoping you would help me with. Now, I know this is all rather sudden, and you probably just want to go home, but please just hear me out before you make a decision."

Shinichi nodded slowly. To be honest, his own curiosity was growing sharper by the moment. "Go on then."

X

Being the sons of families who'd been prominent in both foreign affairs and law enforcement for decades made it easy for Hattori and Hakuba to gain access to the Hall of Records. The guards there were all familiar with their faces and greeted them with crisp salutes as they came. The two young men nodded back before going to register at the front desk. Being one of the most important archives of information in Ekoda, the Hall staff was required to keep track of every soul who so much as set foot over the threshold.

That done, they made their way to the center of the building where a massive, circular chamber hummed quietly with dozens of computers. Pulling out chairs at adjacent consoles, they set to work. They didn't have much to go on. From his appearance, they could guess that Kuroba's 'guest' was about their age. Other than that though, all they knew was what he looked like and the area of the city in which they'd found him.

"Well, this could be him," Hakuba said almost two hours later. "Oh, never mind, this one moved out of the city last year."

Hattori sighed then straightened abruptly in his seat. "I found him! Kudo Shinichi. Oh hey, I guess he goes to our school. Funny, I would've thought we'd have noticed before now. Oh, wait, but he's a sophomore."

"Kudo…" The blonde's brows furrowed. "I've heard that name before…"

"Now that you mention it, it does sound kinda familiar."

Quickly pulling up another window, Hakuba tapped a few keys, brown eyes skimming over the screen before coming to a stop. "Here! Kudo Shinichi is the son of the author Kudo Yuusaku and a Kudo Yukiko."

"You mean the actress? I've seen some of her movies. I thought he looked a bit like someone I'd seen before."

"As did I."

"Er, isn't this a bit of a problem? When they notice he's missing, there's going to be a huge ruckus."

"Perhaps not. According to the records, they've been touring the world for some time now. They only come back to Ekoda once or twice a year, and their last visit was last month. It is unlikely that they will be back again anytime soon."

"Guess we got lucky then. Man, I still can't believe we did that…"

It was Hakuba's turn to sigh. "Please don't remind me."

X

"So you want me to stand in for you at the Skyline Banquet on the day of the festival so that you can go participate in the Performances," Shinichi summarized.

Kaito beamed. "That's right. It'll only be for the one day, and you'll get a great meal out of it."

"But…why? It's just a talent show. It doesn't really mean anything. Why would you go to such lengths just for that? Besides, it'll come around again in a few more years."

"I know, but this is the last chance for me." For the first time since their conversation had begun, Kaito's face and voice were completely serious. He caught Shinichi's gaze and held it. His guest found himself unable to move, pinned as he was by the sheer intensity in those eyes. "I'll be turning twenty one soon. Then I will have to officially take up my duties as a member of the Kuroba family. But before that, there's just one thing I want to do. I know it doesn't mean much to most people, but dreams don't have to, right? It means something to me. I've been waiting for this chance for ten years. It's the only one I've got. So please, will you help me?"

Shinichi didn't answer immediately. In truth, he had originally been sure that he wouldn't want anything to do with anything his crazy kidnapper wanted, but now… He could see the earnestness in the magician's face, as well as the burning determination to chase a dream. He couldn't just say no to that. At the same time though, he didn't really think that this plan to trick all the officials at the banquet was the right way to go about things, even if he could understand how Kaito had come to the conclusion that it was.

"It's only for the banquet?" he asked just to be sure.

"Well, the day of the festival, but the only part of it where you'd have to appear is the banquet. For the rest you can pretty much do whatever you want."

"But won't people notice? We look alike, but not to the point where I'd say we're easy to mistake for one another after the first glance."

"I'll help you with the disguise. I'm quite good at disguises."

"And I'm not a very good actor."

"Most of the people attending the banquet won't ever have met me before. In the meantime, we have three weeks before the festival. That's plenty of time for me to teach you what you're supposed to do and say. These functions are really just a kind of meet and greet."

Shinichi fell silent, looking down into his mug. He was on his third cup of coffee (it was really good coffee—a fact that had gone a long way in soothing his frazzled nerves). However, reliable as it was in other ways, the warm, brown liquid offered no answers.

Well, it wasn't like he'd had any plans for the festival himself. If this hadn't come up, he would probably have spent it at home, reading. Finals were also almost over for the semester and classes weren't due to start again until after summer vacation. His last test was for a history class—something he'd always had excellent memory for and therefore didn't need much time to study. If he could help someone realize an important dream just by going to a banquet instead of reading at home then there wasn't really any reason to object.

And, well, he had to admit that part of him really did want to help.

"All right," he said finally, looking up. "I'll do it."

"Great! Oh, I guess I never properly introduced myself, did I?" Bounding to his feet, the magician swept into a deep bow. "My name is Kuroba Kaito. You can call me Kaito. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Shinichi blinked, slightly taken aback by the—in his opinion—somewhat unnecessary gesture.

Wait. Kuroba…

That was when it clicked. Of course, Kaito had already mentioned his family name, but it hadn't really registered in his mind until now. The clovers, the magic, the name… A diamond inscribed with a four-leaf clover was the crest of the Kuroba family. The same Kuroba family who were said to be the most powerful magic users in the country—maybe even the world.

Suddenly, Shinichi was feeling nervous all over again. Nervous and more than a little self conscious.

But Kaito was still waiting for a response, so he cleared his throat and tried his best not to stammer. "Kudo Shinichi. Um, it's nice to meet you too, I guess…"

X

Hakuba Saguru allowed himself a sigh as he walked aimlessly through the streets of Ekoda. He and Hattori had gotten dinner together after leaving the Hall of Records. Then the dark young man had gotten a call and had to hurry home. The blonde had considered heading home himself, but after an afternoon cooped up in the Hall he'd decided what he really wanted was a walk in the open air. So here he was, idly browsing shop windows in one of the city's more prominent shopping districts.

"You!"

Attention caught by the unfamiliar but clearly outraged female voice, Hakuba turned just in time to see a young woman with long, dark brown hair making a beeline straight for him. He had a split second to wonder why she had her angry blue eyes fixed on him—he didn't think they'd ever met before—before a punch caught him square in the jaw hard enough to knock him off his feet. Shouts of surprise and alarm raced through the crowd around him as he landed spread-eagled on the floor, white and ultraviolet stars dancing across his vision. Through them and his pounding head, he could make out the girl in question standing over him like some kind of vengeful deity.

Her eyes all but spat fire as she demanded, "What did you do to Shinichi?!"

TBC