Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK.

A Touch of Magic

3: Past and Present

"So you guys have decided to make a sort of a—a moving water spout plus garden on wheels?" Shinichi asked, incredulity clear in every syllable that left his mouth.

"It's not a water spout, it's a fountain!" the short-haired girl standing beside Ran erupted, brandishing the rolled up plan in his face like it was a weapon. "And it's going to sit in its own bed of blossoms. It'll be the most stunning thing anyone at the festival has ever seen. And that's final!"

"But a working, stone fountain on wheels?" the painter persisted, frowning. "We've only got two months."

"Your friend over there's a sorcerer isn't he?" the girl retorted, drawing herself up. "If he's any good he should be able to help us finish everything on time."

"Actually, I'm a magician," Kaito interjected, bounding over from where he'd been examining the raw materials being piled up to the side of the village plaza-turned-construction site. "And you're not going to find anyone with my skills within a hundred miles of here."

"You're confident," the girl noted, turning her attention to him. "Question is, if you're just blowing hot air or if you can back it up."

"Sonoko!" Ran hissed, casting Kaito an apologetic look. "You don't have to be so rude."

"But we can't let just anyone help us build this fountain if we want to win. No magic is better than shoddy magic."

"Shoddy?" Kaito repeated, and Shinichi could just see the offended incredulity rising in him at the insinuation against his skills. "My lady, I assure you, my work is anything but shoddy."

"You say that, but we've only got your word for it."

"Well, if you insist," he drawled.

Sonoko blinked, obviously confused, but before she could say anything the ground around the four of them suddenly shifted and rose skyward—a perfect circle of ground just peeling away like an earth-patterned carpet. Sonoko cried out in surprise and latched onto Ran who let out her own gasp as she bent her knees to keep her balance. Shinichi stumbled at the sudden movement and nearly tripped over the edge of the rapidly rising circle of earth but Kaito grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto safer footing. Then all four of them were racing off across the village, trailing started yells and awed laughter all through the streets below.

By the time they finally touched back down in the plaza the number of people there had tripled and everyone was clapping, obviously thinking it some kind of show. In response, explosions of colorful lights burst across the sky like fireworks as the circle of earth melted back into the ground. Each light became a butterfly as it neared the heads of the crowd and they swirled together before disappearing completely. Cheers went up and Kaito took a bow, grinning fit to split his face in half.

Then he turned to Sonoko, grin turning into something more like a smug smirk. "Still think I'm no good?"

She opened her mouth, but no words came out and she shut it again, face turning bright red.

"Did you really have to do all that?" Shinichi asked later as everyone dispersed for the evening.

"Of course."

Shinichi gave him a flat look. "Right."

Laughing, the magician slung an arm over his shoulder and started steering them back to the house by the river. "Come on, it was a challenge. I couldn't well walk away from it. Besides, I haven't had a chance to really exercise my skills for ages now. I don't want to get rusty."

The painter sighed. "Just—warn me next time before you pull a stunt like that."

Kaito made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat and changed the subject. No point making promises he didn't intend to keep.

X

Construction began with a flurry of arguments and several torn pages of plans before anyone even picked up a hammer. When construction did finally start it was only because they all knew any further delays would equal an unfinished project on festival day.

"Is it always like this?" Kaito asked Shinichi as he and the painter went to fetch the tool boxes the village carpenter had agreed to let them use.

"Pretty much. Last year Sonoko put together this weird dance routine. In the end no one in the village could learn it in time so she had to drop the idea."

"A dance routine huh? So these entries aren't all decoration based?"

"Nope."

"What exactly is this parade contest anyway?"

"It's a tradition for the Beika midsummer festival. Instead of the town organizing a parade, people form teams and build their own entries for the parade. Your team signs up on the morning of the festival, they give you a position, and you just become part of the parade. At the end everyone casts votes for which entry they thought was the best and the winners get a prize. Your entry can be anything that can be moved down the street. You can do a performance, build an exhibit like this fountain thing Sonoko wants, sing or play an instrument—anything you can think of really."

"Sure sounds interesting," the magician mused, trying to imagine what that would be like. "I like the sound of it already."

"Do you mean you've never done this before?" Shinichi asked, surprised. "I know the Beika festival isn't the only one that's started having these events."

The magician shrugged. "When you live in a school for sorcerers you're much more likely to end up going to a practitioners' convention than a town festival. As you can probably imagine, games and competitions at those tend to be of a somewhat different nature."

"A practitioners' convention?" the painter repeated. "I didn't know they had things like that."

"Really? There's a pretty big one that happens annually only about a five day journey by horseback from here. We should go some time. There's an entire pavilion dedicated to the demonstration of new spells that's always fun, though you need to be quick with a shield just in case someone hasn't quite mastered their work yet. Last year someone burned the whole pavilion to the ground."

"Sounds dangerous," the painter observed.

"Maybe a little," Kaito admitted, chuckling. "I've always liked the performances the best though. There are some practitioners who've dedicated themselves to entertainment magic and some of them come up with some pretty interesting things."

"Is that what you plan to do then?"

"I've thought about it," Kaito replied, adjusting the tool boxes in his arms for a better grip. "But I haven't really made up my mind yet. I don't think I want to lock myself into one path just yet. Never will if I can help it."

"Good luck then, but you know, no one can do everything."

"No, but nothing stops you from trying everything before you make up your mind."

Shinichi laughed at that. "I guess not."

Watching him out of the corner of his eye, Kaito smiled. Shinichi didn't laugh very often and the magician savored the moments when he could make him do so. Making people laugh had always been something he enjoyed, but more and more he was coming to think that this was different.

Shinichi could be a little distant at times, and had a rather blunt manner of speaking that Kaito had a feeling probably didn't make him many friends, but behind that the magician had found a kind and caring soul. Maybe a little wary, a little awkward, a little lonely, but bright and warm all the same. It was in the little things, like how he always made sure to put the sharp tools out of casual reach of the kids who wanted to help. The painter had spent an entire day carefully sanding away all the splinter infested rough spots on the wheeled frame upon which the fountain would be mounted despite the fact that none of the framework would be visible on the end product. For someone who didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about the project, he was putting in a lot of effort—not just helping with the building but looking over and fixing the calculations on the plans to make sure their final product didn't fall apart on exhibition day. It really was rather funny in its own way but it was just another of the quirks that Kaito found endearing.

This place and these people… He really was beginning to like it here.

X

"Oh it's perfect!" Sonoko declared, hands clasped before her as her eyes shone with a combination of joy, pride, and glee. "We're going to win for sure!"

It was the day before the festival and the Sorgan parade project had only just been completed. It had, surprisingly, turned out exactly how they had wanted, though a few extra touches courtesy of Kaito meant that not only did their fountain spout water but the water spouts danced and wove glittering patterns before falling into the basin (which, apparently, was not an easy feat, since—according to the man himself—it took a lot of care to deal with water lest it simply wash away the weave of your spell. "Can't do that with a river," he'd said with an odd look in his eyes that Shinichi couldn't name).

Everyone gathered in the plaza cheered.

"Just remember everyone, we have to get it to town by noon tomorrow and register for the contest!" Ran called out before the crowd dispersed. The air hummed with contented chatter.

The following morning over half the village population piled into six horse-drawn wagons and headed for Beika followed by the moving fountain and the pair of black and white horses who had been chosen to pull it. The fountain itself had been charmed to be light and it rolled over the ground effortlessly, its equine escorts barely having to exert any real force. Kaito hadn't been pleased to see that the lord's son had decided to join in on the venture, but the teen was in a different cart and too busy being a nuisance over there to notice them.

When they pulled up in an open field alongside of a lot of other wagons, everyone disembarked and split into smaller groups to go their separate ways. Though not before Sonoko had reminded them all to be sure to watch the parade and vote for her entry.

"I thought it was everyone's entry," Kaito remarked as he and Shinichi made their way into town. Shinichi just shook his head.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to see?" he asked.

"Nope, though I'd love to know where that couple over there got those buns with the little colored-icing pictures drawn on top."

"That would be the Brush & Flour Bakery. They made a name for themselves by making foods that look like works of art. They always have special deals going on festival days."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

They spent the rest of the morning wandering through the buzzing Beika streets, munching on pastries from the aforementioned bakery which tasted just as good as they looked. It seemed as though everyone in the town and then some were out today. Vendors cried for attention along every street and vividly dressed people, young and old, filled the air with the murmur of happy conversation and the ring of laughter. Several musicians had set themselves up on makeshift stages to add their music to the chaos. They were on their way to the town square where an entire area had been set aside just for games when they stopped in an art supplies store for Shinichi to take a quick look around. He needed to replace some of his older brushes and this particular shop had a unique and broad collection.

"Can you actually afford to buy that?" an unpleasantly familiar voice asked snidely.

Shinichi went on browsing through brushes as though he hadn't heard anything but Kaito turned from where he'd been examining a wrack of unusually colored inks and shot the newcomer an irritated look. "Seriously, what is your problem?"

Nokota Toma returned his glare with an uninterested glance. "And you are?"

"Recommending that you keep your mouth shut before someone decides to shut it for you."

Toma's jaw dropped and it seemed to Kaito like the other's eyes were going to fall out of his head if he opened them any wider. "Are you threatening me?" he demanded, incredulity highlighting every syllable.

"I wouldn't call it that," Kaito drawled, rather enjoying the stricken look on the lordling's face. "I'm sure lots of people think it all the time. Thought you might want the heads up."

"How dare you speak to me like this! Do you have any idea who I am?"

"You know, I've always wondered why people like you always resort to questions like that. Can't you come up with anything better? I mean really, you hear 'em once and you've heard 'em all." He shook his head in mock disappointment, watching as the man's face grew redder by the second. He would have said more but a hand tugged insistently on his arm. He glanced around to see Shinichi frowning at him.

"Let's go," the painter said once he knew he had Kaito's attention. "I've got everything I need."

"Hold it right there Kudo!" Toma snarled suddenly, taking a step in their direction. "You two aren't leaving until your friend here apologizes to me!"

"Hope you brought a chair then," the magician said airily.

Ignoring them both, Shinichi dragged the magician out the door before either could get another word in.

"Honestly, he'd have left if we ignored him," he scolded the moment the door had swung shut behind them. "Do you make a habit of poking lions in the eye?"

"Lion? What lion? All I saw was a puffed up housecat."

"Housecats have claws too."

Kaito laughed. "You have a counter for everything, don't you?"

Shinichi blinked at him then snorted. "Look who's talking."

The magician grinned. "Let's just forget about this and get to those games before all the prizes are gone."

X

It was mid afternoon and everyone was gravitating towards the largest street in Beika. It ran all the way through the town and would be the path which the parade would be taking. Kaito and Shinichi were searching for a spot with a good view from which to watch when the magician stiffened suddenly. His companion looked up at him questioningly only to let out a yelp of surprise as he was yanked into the nearest alley mouth. Before he could say anything a hand clamped over his mouth and Kaito shook his head. Indigo eyes returned to the street they had just vacated and Shinichi followed their gaze.

He frowned in confusion. All he saw were the festival goers walking past in both directions. Then he noticed a tall, blond boy walking with a girl with wild, brown hair. They stood out from the rest of the crowd because their clothes were of a higher quality than almost everyone else's.

"—gone on long enough, Miss Aoko," the blonde was saying, voice quiet but a touch pleading. "Everyone is worried about you."

"I know," the girl sighed, "it's just…hard to be cheerful when…" She trailed off and both were swallowed by the crowd before their observers could hear any more of the conversation.

Once they were out of sight, Kaito let out a quiet breath and let go of Shinichi.

"What was that all about?" the painter asked in confusion, straightening out his clothes.

"I know them," the magician replied shortly, his expression unreadable. He didn't say any more and Shinichi didn't ask, but he couldn't help but notice his companion's mood take a turn for the worse after that. He didn't really act any differently—still laughed and joked and even joined in the cheering when they saw Sorgan's flowery fountain come trundling down the street, but to Shinichi it seemed as though there wasn't anything behind the laughter anymore. Like it was all a very well crafted mask. He didn't like the feeling. It was almost a relief when the festival was over and they all clambered back onto the wagons and headed for home.

X

Shortly after dinner Kaito excused himself and went outside to sit on the riverbank. Time crawled. The sky had long since turned dark and the moon was high in the sky and he had still to make a move to come back indoors. Shinichi had let him be at first, feeling that it wasn't his place to pry, but he didn't like seeing Kaito like this. Eventually, he made up his mind and went to join the magician on the bank.

Kaito looked up at his approach and smiled but he returned to his contemplation of the river without saying anything. Shinichi shared in his silence for a few minutes, carefully piecing together things he could say before finally settling on an option.

"You…never told me what happened," he said hesitantly. "Not that you have to or anything," he added hurriedly before falling silent.

The minutes dragged by in silence as he struggled to find the right words and he was just beginning to wish he had kept his mouth shut when the magician finally began to speak.

"I guess it started when my father died." Leaning back on his hands, Kaito tilted his head back so that he could look up at the night sky. "I was only eight and my mom was ill so my father's friend, Nakamori Ginzo, took us in. He and Dad spent years tracking down and collecting artifacts, mostly to study them, but also to keep them out of the wrong hands. Dad got killed when one of the unstable ones blew up. Anyway, we lived with the Nakamoris after that, but Mom passed away from her illness three years ago."

He paused, picturing her face in his mind. He still missed her at times, but not as much now. She had been at peace, and when she had passed on it had been with a gentle smile. Her last wish had been that he go on to live a happy life—and she had told him to live without regrets for life itself was a treasure and to waste it away grieving would be a crying shame. He'd laughed at that back then even with his eyes misting over because it was just like her to say something so serious in such a lighthearted way.

"The Nakamoris run a school for magic," he continued, drawing himself back to the present. "I learned a lot from them. I had a lot of fun back then," he noted, chuckling quietly. "Their daughter, Aoko, was my best friend growing up. You saw her earlier. The other students were mostly pretty decent people too. But there was this one guy who was always coming in second. You saw him too, by the way. We'd compete all the time and he always got so angry when he lost—it was actually rather funny. Or at least it was." The smile slid off his face. "It got particularly bad these last few years. He has feelings for Aoko. I think he had the wrong idea about Aoko and me and he wanted to prove to her that he was better than me. He started challenging me to duels more and more often. Then about six months ago he went and stole one of those artifacts I mentioned earlier to give himself an edge."

Understanding touched with horror dawned on Shinichi's face. "Six months… So…that was the reason… He tried to kill you."

Kaito shrugged, affecting an air of nonchalance. "I don't think that was his intention. He looked pretty surprised himself when it happened."

Shinichi looked down at his clasped hands, feeling slightly sick to his stomach. Intentional or not, the fact that no one had come looking for Kaito meant that this person, whoever he was, hadn't told anyone what had happened. In effect, he'd left his fellow student for dead.

"You don't have to look so horrified, you know," Kaito said suddenly, drawing Shinichi's attention back up to his face. He was shocked to see that the magician was smiling.

"But—aren't you upset?"

"I'm not thrilled about it, certainly, but we can't change the past. Besides, if things hadn't turned out this way, I would never have met you."

"But—they were your friends. The rest of them probably still are. I'm sure they're worried sick about you."

"By now they probably think I'm dead or that I ran off or something."

"And you're just going to let them think that?" Shinichi demanded, turning to face him fully. "If they care about you, and I'm sure they do, then they have the right to at least know you're okay. You should go back—"

"I'm not going back," Kaito snapped. "Besides, if I go back now things will just get complicated again. If they think I'm dead, then so be it. They'll get over it."

Shinichi frowned. "Is that really what you think?"

"It's fact. People die all the time."

"But you're not dead," he pointed out, voice soft but serious. "It is different. Why leave them to grieve for you if you can do something about it?"

Kaito let out a long sigh. "It's been six months already, Shinichi. That's a long time." He paused a moment. "Do you really want me to leave?"

Shinichi blinked. "What? N—no, of course not." He looked away again, unable to meet the other's intense gaze.

"Well, I don't want to go back," the magician said firmly. "It's not like they need me there or anything. And…I want to stay here. With you. If you'll let me."

Heat began its familiar rise in Shinichi's face and he swallowed, suddenly feeling equal parts nervous, confused, and—something else he couldn't quite name that was warm and bubbling but just made him more nervous than he already was. "You can stay as long as you want to."

Gentle fingers caught his chin and turned his head so that he was looking the magician in the eyes again.

"Thank you," Kaito said, pouring all the sincerity he could into those simple words. For a moment he debated with himself, then he leaned forward and kissed Shinichi. The other gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, his hold on the smaller teen firm but not so much so that he couldn't pull away if he wanted to.

When he drew back he examined Shinichi's now fiercely blushing face. The painter still looked surprised and maybe a tad bit confused but he didn't seem upset. That was good. He hadn't been entirely sure how Shinichi would react, and the last thing he'd wanted to do was scare him away, but it seemed he needn't have worried. Shinichi was still looking at him like he didn't know what he was supposed to be thinking, but he could work with that. Everything had to begin somewhere.

And this person… This life… He wanted this, more than anything he had ever wanted, and, for the first time since he'd fallen into the river, he felt a rush of elation—at the realization, at the wonder of this moment here beneath the sky, at the beautiful soul he wanted to hold forever, and the chance that Fate had handed him.

TBC

A.N: I think that was the sappiest thing I've ever written ^^U Well, see you next week!