Disclaimer: We don't own DCMK

Timeline Note: This one's memory is set prior to the events from the first photo.

Caught on Camera

Photograph: Bookworms

"Ah ha! I knew I saw you there!" Kaito exclaimed, leveling a triumphant finger at his father. "And you said you were grocery shopping!"

"Ah, but I brought the groceries home, didn't I?"

"And like I said last time, that doesn't mean you couldn't have been there." Kaito settled back into his seat looking smug.

Toichi just laughed. "And I never claimed that I didn't pass by."

"Pass by?" the younger magician scoffed in disbelief. "You call spending ten minutes making balloon animals passing by?"

"Well, you can't expect me to just walk away when you had such a frightening look on your face," his father pointed out cheerfully. "What kind of parent would I be then?"

Kaito rolled his eyes as he glanced back at the picture. He'd been openly displaying his irritation because he'd wanted someone to notice that he was Annoyed. Not that it had worked. Shinichi had been too preoccupied with his little bookworm detectives' convention of two…

. . . . . . . . .

Shinichi was staying at the Kurobas' for the week because his parents were going out of town for a conference. It meant he had to get up earlier than he would have liked to get to school in time, but he had to admit it was better than staying home alone like he'd originally thought he'd be doing. Besides, Chikage-san was a wonderful cook. Currently he and Kaito were doing their homework in the latter's room. Or at least that was what they were supposed to be doing. He didn't know what kind of homework Kaito thought he was doing while he made five little silver bells do a jig across a string of handkerchiefs.

"You know," Kaito said suddenly, drawing Shinichi's attention away from the math problems he'd been solving. "I think detective-ness is some kind of disease."

"Gee, thanks," Shinichi said dryly, feeling somewhat offended despite himself.

"I don't mean it's bad or anything," the magician said hastily, shooting him an apologetic smile. "It's just it seems to be contagious. My class just got a new student and guess what he said he was?"

"A detective."

"Bingo! So that makes three of you now. You're popping up like daisies!"

"…" He really didn't know what to say to that. On the one hand, he supposed it was a little unusual how many high school detectives were suddenly cropping up these days, on the other hand Kaito's description made detectives sound like weeds. Which was…kind of very unflattering. Although he was fairly sure Kaito didn't mean it that way. "Is there a point to this?"

Kaito shrugged, making all the silver bells disappear with a twist of the handkerchiefs which all turned black. "Not really. I just thought it was interesting is all."

"So who is he?" Shinichi asked when the magician didn't elaborate.

"Hm?"

Shinichi frowned at the distracted noise. He knew before he looked around that the magician had sunk into his own little world again as he watched Shinichi from his seat across the room. He seemed to be doing a lot of daydreaming lately. He didn't know what was preoccupying the magician's thoughts—and he was fairly sure he was better off not knowing—except that Kaito always wound up staring at him and it was starting to get creepy.

"Who's the detective in your class?" he asked again, louder this time.

Indigo eyes blinked before focusing on his face again. "Oh, him." He shrugged, waving one hand dismissively. "I think his name was Hakuba something. Blonde. Kind of boring."

"Hakuba Saguru?"

"Yeah, that's it. Have you heard of him then?"

"A little. His father's also with the police. I believe he's solved several cases in London and a few other places in Europe."

Kaito shrugged. He wasn't particularly interested in anything to do with the new detective (after all, he was just a detective, and one that didn't have any particularly outstanding or unusual qualities at that). But he supposed he should have expected Shinichi to be. He wondered idly if it was because this new detective had spent time in London. Shinichi always had wanted to go (ever since he first picked up a Sherlock Holmes book for that matter, which was a long time ago). And he could hear in the way the other had pronounced the city's name just now that the desire to see the place hadn't grown any weaker over the years.

They went back to their homework after that. Or rather Shinichi did and Kaito went back to practicing random magic tricks while he watched Shinichi tapping his lower lip with his pen as he thought.

"Hey Shin-chan."

He was answered by a distracted, "Hm?"

"Why don't you just move in with me? We'd save a lot on commute time."

"…Do your homework Kai."

It was the last day of Shinichi's stay when Kaito spotted a familiar head of blond hair at one of the picnic tables in the park he and Shin-chan were passing through.

"That's the detective I told you about," he said, nudging Shinichi and pointing the guy out. Shinichi followed the gesture to see the blonde reading newspapers at the picnic tables.

"You mean Hakuba-san?"

"Yep."

"Should we go say hello?"

Kaito considered it for a moment. Well, it couldn't hurt. He could tell Shinichi was curious, and he supposed it was only polite to say hello when you passed someone you knew on the streets.

"Sure, why not."

There weren't all that many people at the picnic benches as this particular park didn't have much in the way of food and it was getting close to lunch time.

"Hey, Hakuba!" Kaito called out as he and Shinichi approached the benches.

The blonde glanced up at the sound of his name.

"Kuroba-san," he replied politely, glancing from Kaito to Shinichi and back again. "Is this your brother?"

"No," both teens replied automatically. It was a question they had been asked so often that Shinichi thought he could probably answer it in his sleep. The natural next step of course was to introduce himself.

Apparently Hakuba had also heard of Beika's Kudo Shinichi.

Kaito had expected Shinichi to ask about England. He'd figured they could talk to the blonde a little and let Shinichi ask his fill of questions. Besides, it was always fun to learn more about the quirks of other places and peoples. He'd also expected the mention of Shinichi's favorite fictional detective. After all, it was the basis of Shinichi's interest in said foreign country. What he hadn't anticipated was the reaction he got.

Hakuba, it turned out, was just as much of a Sherlock Holmes fan as Shinichi was. The two of them had been discussing the said detective's novels for the last three hours. Kaito was sure he was going to go mad soon. Shin-chan hadn't so much as looked his way since the conversation had taken its turn into the world of all things Holmes. Even worse, it didn't sound like they were going to be done talking any time soon.

Frankly what he really wanted to do right now was strangle Hakuba, but Shin-chan would be upset.

He supposed he could leave but damnit this was supposed to be their day out before Shin-chan had to go back home tomorrow! It was already two in the afternoon and they hadn't even eaten lunch yet. Thankfully they'd had a late breakfast, but he was definitely starting to get hungry and it was not helping his mood.

Come to think of it, were they talking in English now?

And was that his dad making balloon animals for the children over there?

He sat up straighter and squinted at the balloon seller. The features weren't quite right, and the hair was all wrong, but those were little things. That gleam in the eye however was all too familiar. But when the man glanced across the park at him again there was nothing but bland disinterest in his face. Had he imagined…? No, he couldn't have.

Ugh, whatever, it wasn't important. What was important was how to get out of here with Shinichi in tow. Drastic measures were in order (though not too drastic, because Shin-chan was watching).

There was an explosion of smoke and a muffled cry of surprise from Hakuba. Shinichi waved the smoke away only to see that his fellow detective had had his mouth duct-taped shut. The tape had been wrapped all the way around his head to make it even more of a pain to remove. The blonde himself was picking at the tape looking equal parts shocked and bewildered. He was, after all, new to the area and unaware of the natural hazards of the Ekoda district.

Shinichi on the other hand was all too familiar with said hazards (they often followed him home) and knew exactly what was happening. It didn't stop him from being startled when he was yanked up out of his seat and dragged bodily backwards off the bench.

"H—hey, Kaito!" he exclaimed, scrambling to get his feet back under him as the magician continued to walk away from the picnic tables with Shinichi firmly under one arm. "We can't just leave him like that."

"Yes we can," Kaito replied without so much as a backward glance. "It's just tape." Extra sticky, but he kept that to himself. "We're going to get something to eat," he declared instead, his grip not loosening in the slightest, though he did adjust his hold so that Shinichi could straighten up and walk more properly.

Detecting the steely note in his companion's voice, Shinichi frowned and stopped trying to pry himself loose. "What's gotten into you?"

That earned him a look he couldn't quite put a name to. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Shinichi glanced automatically at his watch and blinked in surprise. "It's two already?"

"Exactly!" Now Kaito's expression morphed into the rather more familiar one that Shinichi usually thought of as a waterless type of crocodile tears. "And we haven't had anything to eat since breakfast."

Shinichi sighed and made a mental note to apologize to Hakuba next time he saw him (since he knew Kaito wouldn't) before nudging Kaito in the direction of an Italian restaurant he knew opened throughout the afternoon. "If you were hungry you should have just said so."

Kaito made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat and changed the subject.

. . . . . . . . .

…"Introducing you to Hakuba was the worst mistake of my life," the magician grumbled, scowling.

"Kai…" Shinichi sighed. There were, he reflected, some down sides to having good memories. It was probably a good thing they were looking at these before the others got here.

TBC

A.N: Hmm, I wanted at least fifty of these. It looks like it's going to be a lot harder than I thought. Again, feel free to make suggestions if anything comse to mind. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed and see you next time!