Disclaimer: We don't own DCMK

Answers:

Does KID exist in this universe: I forgot to answer this one last time. Technically it's a yes, but not in the usual way. You'll have to wait to see what that means.

Caught on Camera

Photograph: Dance with Me

"Hey Shin-chan, do you remember this party?"

Peeking out from behind the protective shield of his fingers, Shinichi eyed the next photograph for a moment before making a noise of acknowledgment. That elaborate décor and all those glittering lights were characteristic of one of those big parties their parents so loved. Though he usually couldn't avoid being dragged to them, the number of times anyone had been able to get him on the dance floor were slim to none so this one wasn't hard to place…

. . . . . . . . .

There were three steps to every party in Shinichi's life. Step one, the dress up. During that step he was generally trapped in a room with his mother while she used him as a life-sized doll. Step two was the journey to wherever the party was being held during which he would find reasons why they should let him go home and his parents would rebuff them all. The last step was the party itself, which was where he was now.

This party had been going on for what felt to Shinichi like hours—endless hours of mind numbing boredom, to be exact. It wasn't that he had anything against parties per se, parties kept his parents occupied and out of his hair, so really he appreciated them—just so long as he didn't have to participate in them. But his parents' favorite part of any party was to drag their son around with them and embarrass him in as many ways as possible in front of all their friends (well, he knew that wasn't exactly their intention, not all the time anyway, but it didn't stop it from happening). Sometimes he was actually quite surprised that he could hold his head up at all considering the kinds of things he'd been subjected to by them over the years, but at least he had his success as a detective to fall back on. It was something to cling to when his parents got particularly carried away. Though even there his father's hobby of poking as many holes as possible in any theory he came up with had ingrained in him an overpowering urge to triple check everything before voicing his opinions (admittedly this had its upside—namely preventing mistakes where they would really matter).

With that in mind this was actually a good party, he decided. His parents were on the other side of the room and not paying attention to him. In fact they had been ignoring him since the party had started. Strange that, but he certainly wasn't going to complain.

Just another hour or so and he could probably leave without being stopped or having to listen to his mother nag him about it afterward.

Sighing, he picked up his sixth—or was it seventh?—glass of apple cider and turned his mind back to the last novel he'd been reading.

In a much more lively corner of the room, Kaito swept into a bow for the small crowd composed of most of the rest of the teens at the party. They applauded and he grinned. Even as a freshman in high school he had the skills necessary to be a professional magician and, while he wasn't one yet, he reveled in the ability to make his peers gape in amazement.

Latest impromptu show over, the crowd began to disperse. Politely declining several invitations to join the assorted chatting groups, he cast a glance towards the refreshments. Perhaps a snack was in order. But he wasn't actually hungry.

Feeling eyes on him, he glanced around to find his father watching him. He raised an eyebrow inquiringly. He usually couldn't tell when his father was watching him (loathed as he was to admit it) unless the man wanted him to know. The corner of the elder magician's mouth quirked up, probably guessing at his son's thoughts.

Now that he had the boy's attention, Toichi looked pointedly towards the mostly empty tables. Kaito followed his gaze to find a familiar head of black hair slouched at said tables. He glanced back at his father who quirked an eyebrow at him in a sort of 'what are you still doing standing there?' kind of way.

Kaito resisted the extremely powerful urge to roll his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't like Shinichi, quite the contrary, and at least he knew he wouldn't have to deal with any parental objections, but there was just something fundamentally irritating (not to mention weird) about having their parents constantly sticking their long noses into their business. And he could see that it was unnerving Shinichi far more than anything he could possibly do by himself. Still, no point wasting the moment.

Shinichi was fairly sure he'd figured out how the rest of the mystery in the novel he'd been reading would go when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He glanced up to find Kaito standing beside his seat. He blinked in surprise. Last he'd seen the magician had been caught up in the middle of what looked like a rather complicated show. He hadn't thought Kaito would be done with it so quickly. Or maybe more time had passed than he had realized.

"What is it?" he inquired, going to take another sip of his drink before he realized that his glass was empty. Again.

Kaito chuckled at the other boy's expression. "So how many cups does that make it?"

"Going on eight, I think," Shinichi sighed, reaching for the nearest bottle of cider. The motion was aborted however when Kaito picked up the bottle and set it out of his reach. He frowned, shooting the magician a betrayed look which was ignored.

"You don't seriously plan on just sitting here the whole time, do you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Shinichi replied without any hesitation. "It's not like there's anything else to do."

"You could dance," the magician suggested, offering him a hand. "How about it?"

Shinichi stared at the hand for a moment before raising his gaze to the other's face a bit uncertainly. "Dance? With you?"

"Well~," the magician drawled, pulling on a rather wounded look, "I suppose you could dance with someone else if you'd prefer."

Shinichi turned a shade pink. "N—no, it's not that. It's just…"

Kaito's expression morphed into a cheery smile. "Come on then. The next song should be starting soon. Besides," he added, leaning down so that he could whisper into Shinichi's ear. "If we don't dance at least once neither of us is going to get a moment's rest when we get home."

Shinichi took another look at his empty glass before setting it down and gingerly accepting Kaito's proffered hand. "I guess it wouldn't hurt…"

Kaito frowned in mock offense. "Do you have so little faith in my abilities?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Well, no matter," the magician declared, stepping out onto the dance floor and pulling Shinichi to him. "I'm sure I can convince you of my aptitude."

. . . . . . . . .

…"You two were so cute!" Yukiko squealed happily.

Shinichi stared at his mother's beaming face for a moment before sudden realization dawned. "You—you guys planned all that didn't you? Ugh, don't answer that, I know you did."

TBC

A.N: In case it was confusing, this scene is set before the photo from chapter one. I'm starting to think a chronological list may eventually be in order ^^