The Beach- Part 1

"You've got to invite Tsukiko-chan, Holmes Geek!"

"Why? I'm not planning on going to the beach." Shinichi stepped back as Sonoko trapped him against the booth, herself leaning over the table between them in a threatening manner. Nobody at Poirot's even blinked at the scene. How messed up is it that people got used to see such display?

He's starting to get a feeling that cafés have become convenient places for him to be accosted and threatened by overpowering women with a grudge against him! When did that become a rule?!

"Oh yes, you are! You owe it to Ran after all you've done! She worried about you!"

"And I apologised! But Sonoko, I'm not going …"

"Besides, I'm going to invite Tsukiko-chan myself if you don't!"

"What for?!"

"I happen to like your new girlfriend! Some of us do this thing called: Socialising! If you're not coming, fine but at least pass on the invite to Tsukiko-chan and see if she wants to invite her friends along! Maybe she knows some cute guys? Like that hot British detective! We're also going with Kazuha-chan and Shiho-chan!"

Shinichi paled.

"Why would you bring that many people?!"

"It's called going out and having fun, Kudo! That's what normal people do! People like the beach! And Makoto is on some tournament in America so I need some hot guys to distract me!"

Ah. Of course! The underlying reason for this sudden decision!

While Shinichi would usually let Sonoko pull him along (and Ran) into her crazy plans, he wasn't so inclined this time. Beach implies swimsuits and a good degree of near-nakedness. That's not an issue for him but what about Tsukiko? Kaito can hide his masculine figure through as many clothes and corsets as he wants, he can't actually pull off a swimwear, can he? He can't be that good! That's not a disguise anymore, that's a body switch!

"I don't know, Sonoko … I don't think it's a good idea to bring Tsukiko along …"

"Why? I'm sure she'd love to go!" Sonoko frowned in confusion but then her face lit up and she smirked slyly.

"Or are you just uncomfortable with the idea of other men seeing your girlfriend in little to nothing?"

Shinichi felt himself flush and maybe that's good to convince Sonoko, but that is definitely not a reaction he wants to have when thinking about Kaito in a swimsuit getting hit on by other guys! And why is he imagining the male Kaito instead of the female Tsukiko?! Not that Kaito isn't hot! That's actually the very problem here because Shinichi can so easily picture both men and women fawning over the thief! Now the mental image is stuck in his head and Shinichi hates it! He wants to see it and at the same time dreads it!

"That's not …! Don't be ridiculous!" He seethed angrily between his teeth.

"Who would have known the great Kudo would be so possessive! You weren't as worried with Ran!" Sonoko giggled.

"What about me?" Ran came to join them and Sonoko hurried to tell her.

"Oh Ran! See, I was telling the Holmes Geek to invite Tsukiko-chan and her friends to go on that beach trip with us!"

"Oh! That's …" Ran's expression looked conflicted for a moment and she briefly flashed a look at Shinichi before shaking her head and smiling.

"That's a great idea, Sonoko!"

"Isn't it? And you won't believe it but when I mentioned it, Kudo went all against it because he doesn't want other men to hit on his girl in a bikini!"

"You don't know she'll be wearing a bikini!" Shinichi mumbled.

"Oh? Does she go in the nude then?" Sonoko chirped back with an evil smile.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Shinichi growled but then had to stop himself and flushed red at another mental image. Damn it. He shouldn't be feeling excited when thinking of a naked Kaito on a beach! Would Kaito even do that? Uh. The magician is pretty open-minded but … uh. Wait, no! That means other people would also see him and NO! Definite NO!

Sonoko laughed at Shinichi's obvious internal conflict.

"See! He's totally whipped!" She told her friend, not noticing Ran's upset expression as she looks at her best friend.

"Yeah. Guess so." She mumbled, slight irritation in her voice.

"Well then! That settles it! WE ARE GOING TO THE BEACH!" Sonoko cheered.

-So that's why.-

Shinichi waited for Kaito's response. It didn't take long.

-Don't make it sound like it's an ordeal! The beach is fun!-

-You do realise you'll be required to be in a swimsuit, right?-

-And your point is? Don't tell me you actually are jealous like Sonoko thought!-

-Of course not!-

Shinichi hesitated them switched to his Conan phone and texted Kaito instead of Tsukiko.

-Are you sure you're ok with this? I can still find an excuse for us to cancel.-

-Shinichi, the point of this trip is for us to have fun. You've been working routinely without break for too long! You need FUN-

-But what about your disguise!-

-That's for me to worry about. I'm a professional. When I engaged myself to be your girlfriend, I knew what it implied and I had considered such a scenario.-

-Seriously?!-

-I'm very prevoyant.-

-But how …?-

Shinichi didn't know how to ask the thief but Kaito understood anyway.

-You'll just have to wait and find out, won't you~!-

Shinichi was prepared for anything, but not what he actually saw. Tsukiko Okami and her friends were waiting for them at the bus stop they all had agreed on. Shinichi recognised with his *girlfriend*, Hakuba Saguru who seemed to be in an active conversation with Tsukiko, and Inspector Nakamori's daughter, Aoko. The third girl, Shinichi had never met but heard a lot about. He assumed this beautiful lady is Koizumi Akako, the supposed witch Kaito mentioned before, who happens to be dating Aoko-san.

"Tsukiko-chan!" Sonoko suddenly called, making the Ekoda group look up at the Beika (and Osaka) group approaching them.

"Oh! So, that's your girlfriend, Kudo!" Heiji immediately started observing Tsukiko and Shinichi felt irritated in the way his friend's eyes racked over Kaito like that. Of course, Shinichi knew that Hattori was only trying to deduce when and where Shinichi would have met Tsukiko, but it's still irritating to see another man check out his girlfriend! No matter how fake she may be!

"Oh, you are kidding! I have to suffer the Osakan knuckle head?" Hakuba muttered in a breath and Tsukiko chuckled while elbowing him in the ribs.

"Be nice!" Tsukiko warned him playfully and again, Shinichi got irritated. Why are they so friendly and close? Literally standing too close to each other! Far too close! Stop being so close!

"Sonoko-chan! Ran-chan! And Shiho-chan! Pleasure to see you all again!" Tsukiko stepped forward and moved to introduce her friends.

"These are my friends: Hakuba Saguru, which I am sure you all know for his reputation of being a Mr-know-it-all Sherlockian! Oh, and apparently, he's some sort of detective too!" She shrugged that last part dismissively causing Aoko and Akako to giggle while Hakuba glared at her.

"Moving on, Koizumi Akako, witch in the making but don't ask her for a love potion, last time we tried that, we got Hakuba to fall in love with a cactus! Actually, you know what! Scratch that! Go for the love potion and the cactus!"

Again, more hilarity and more glaring from Hakuba. Now, Shiho, Ran and Sonoko were also joining the laughter.

"Finally, Nakamori Aoko, my childhood friend, whose father is the one and only Nakamori Ginzo, fervent fan and stalker of one outrageously handsome and talented phantom thief! Aoko herself is a regular attendant to heists! Always supportive!"

"BaKai- Tsukiko!" Aoko seemed to stumbled on her first word as if she had to correct herself mid-way but her fury covered the stumble so well only Shinichi cared enough to notice. "I told you! That thief is a menace to society! And you should stop praising the ground on which he walks!"

"See? Fervent in her support! Just like her dad!" Tsukiko concluded with a wide grin and shot a quick wink at a fuming Aoko while Akako watched them with an amused smile and Hakuba rolled his eyes at his friends' antics.

"Oh! And I should probably introduce myself too for the people I am seeing accompanying you and which I haven't met yet." Tsukiko suddenly looked towards Kazuha, Heiji and Sera.

The cheeky girl bowed in a stage-like manner before smiling to her *audience*.

"My name is Okami Tsukiko! Amateur magician, soon to surpass Kaitou KID himself! Oh, and Shinichi's girlfriend." She concluded that last part almost like an after-thought.

Her indigo eyes flashed at Shinichi and she smirked teasingly at him. Shinichi rolled his eyes but smiled back nonetheless.

Sonoko and Ran started to clap amusingly at Tsukiko's introduction, soon joined by Kazuha. The girls all immediately mingled together, meeting and befriending each other. Ran and Aoko seemed to get along splendidly while Akako and Shiho, on the other hand, were in some sort staring contest and not looking like they'd be friends anytime soon. Tsukiko was entertaining Sonoko, Sera and Kazuha with "details on how she started dating the Holmes Geek" (in Sonoko's words).

This left the three boys to themselves. Or, really, it left Shinichi having to serve as a peace-maker between Hattori and Hakuba.

And that is why, Shinichi hates crowding and socialising with large groups! Cursing his bad luck of befriending an evil witch like Sonoko, Shinichi let his eyes wander towards Kaito (and ignored his two fellow detectives who were starting to get on his nerves). For all he saw, Tsukiko looked perfectly the part. She wore cute white shorts and a matching white summer hoodie over what Shinichi assumed would be her swimwear. She had a white rose pined to her hair, and Shinichi wondered if the thief just kept a collection of rose accessories. The sleuth couldn't stop his eyes from trailing down Kaito's nice … really nice legs. How does he look so …?! And the hoodie only helps to show off Tsukiko's nice athletic figure. Shinichi wondered how Kaito is going to look like once he takes off that layer of clothing. How is he going to pull off a "Tsukiko in a swimsuit"? Not that Kaito couldn't pull it off. He could. He'd look very nice in a swimsuit. Those legs and that ass definitely would look lovely. And Kaito has a nice smooth skin that glows so beautifully under the moon, it is bound to look stunning under the beach's sun!

"You really are into her! So, it's not just about trying to get Nee-chan and your mum off your back!"

Shinichi jumped at the sound of Heiji's mocking tone. He turned around and found both Hattori and Hakuba observing him with knowing smirks. What do these bastards want now?

"What?" Shinichi asked in a controlled casual tone that only made Heiji's grin widen in response.

"You were staring at Okami-san's ass and legs in a very insistent manner, Kudo!"

Shinichi knew he was beet red. He could feel it from the heat rushing down his neck and face, and from Heiji's annoying smirk and wiggling eyebrows.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Shinichi snapped.

"No need to be shy, Kudo! I'm glad for you! You were starting to worry us all, keeping yourself cooped up in your house and drowning in your work! It's good that you've got yourself a girl to distract you!"

"A distraction, uh? Indeed, Tsukiko is a pleasant distraction. But don't let this distraction get too much to your head, Kudo-san." Hakuba spoke in a disinterested tone.

"We wouldn't want someone getting hurt, would we?" He then narrowed his eyes warningly on Shinichi.

"What are you saying, Hakuba? You got a thing for her or something?" Hattori intervened before Shinichi could answer the blonde.

"Me? Her? Hardly!" The Brit chuckled as if it were the most absurd notion. A smile was still gracing his lips as he continued speaking.

"She's a close friend. I'd hate it if Kudo were to hurt her by simply using her as a 'distraction' as you so accurately described, Hattori."

"I didn't mean it like that! I'm just saying Kudo's been having it rough since he broke up with Nee-chan and I'm happy for him! Kudo's not the kind of guy to play around with people!" Hattori vehemently defended his best friend and Shinichi felt an odd surge of guilt. Especially when Hakuba's unconvinced expression turned to him. His eyes spoke volumes.

"Is that so. I do hope you're right, Hattori-san. Tsukiko doesn't need someone who isn't serious."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Hattori shouted angrily.

"Oi! Haku-chan, I told you to be nice! Stop winding up my boyfriend! That's my job and I rather like it!" Tsukiko came to interrupt them before the detectives started a fight.

Hattori burst out laughing when he heard "Haku-chan" while Hakuba spluttered at the name and glared at the girl.

"When are you going to stop calling me that?" He growled and Tsukiko smirked back in a playful challenge.

"I think it suits you, Ha-ku-chan~! Or would you prefer, Hunter-san?"

"Look out, Okami-san! Calling the wolf too many times might get you into trouble!" Hakuba took up the challenge and the two started bantering.

Hattori and Shinichi watched them for a moment until the Osakan leaned towards his friend.

"You might want to look out for Hakuba. He might steal your girl."

Shinichi shook his head.

"I don't think so. They're just good friends."

Hattori looked at his friend with a curious frown. While Kudo's words were calm and assured, his tone held an underlying irritation. Interesting. Could Kudo be letting his emotions cloud his rational mind? That'd be a first!

"Just friends, uh? Better watch out then! Kazuha and I were 'just friends' and you can see how that ended up!"

Shinichi didn't answer. In truth, he agreed with Heiji and wanted nothing more than to pull Kaito into his arms and openly claim him. But Hakuba's words earlier were still ringing in his ears and he felt the snake of guilt curl inside him. Hakuba is correct. This relationship with Kaito is only just an elaborate pretence to fool his mother and Ran. Shinichi shouldn't indulge in it.

"Don't worry! He'll back off once he sees how serious you are about this!" Hattori clasped his hands on Shinichi's back just as the bus approached and their little group moved to climb on.

Tsukiko and Hakuba were still bantering and sat next to each other on the bus if only to continue their argument. Shinichi was left to sit with Hattori while looking over Kaito, musing.

"I'm serious …?" He mumbled to himself.

How could he get serious when this entire relationship is fake?

Preview:

It's not possible.

Make-up, sure.

Outfits, of course.

Padding and props, obviously.

But how on earth could Kaito still look like a girl when in nothing but a sexy white bikini?! That's not possible no matter how good a magician he is!

[...]

"Shinichi? What's wrong?" Tsukiko asked him with a concerned frown.

[...]

"How did you manage that?" Shinichi whispered to Tsukiko's ear. The girl lifted an eyebrow and he elaborated with a faint blush on his cheeks.

"I mean, how did you manage to appear so much like a woman, in a bikini, as if you really were born as one! That's not disguise anymore, that's sex-change surgery!"

[...]

"Magic~!"

Oh, now that's so helpful! Magic! Of course! What was he thinking? Count on magicians to deflect the topic!