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Caught on Camera

Photograph: The Play

The following was a two-page spread of photos all under the heading of "The Play". Shinichi rolled his eyes. Honestly, he was starting to think that their parents hadn't put this album together as a memento of their lives together so much as they had put it together to be a memento of his most embarrassing moments…

. . . . . . . . .

Yukiko was surprised when her son came slumping through the front door that afternoon. He toed off his shoes, shuffled them to the side, then slouched into the living room where he proceeded to lie face down on the couch cushions. His backpack had been dropped en route to said couch and it lay there like a dead animal.

Curious and a little bit concerned, Yukiko followed him into the room and sat down in the armchair by the hearth. "Shin-chan, what's wrong?"

Shinichi's reply came in a series of muffled syllables lost in the cushions and completely incoherent.

"It's okay if you got a bad grade. There's always next time."

This time Shinichi turned his head to the side to free his mouth from the couch. "I did not get a bad grade."

"Oh? So then what are you moping about?"

Shinichi heaved a sigh that could have anchored ships. "They're making us do a play at school."

"Oh that's wonderful!" Yukiko lit up with sudden excitement. She'd always wished that Shinichi would follow in her footsteps, but unfortunately he'd never shown any interest in even trying. "Are you going to be acting?"

"Unfortunately," her son groaned like he was announcing his own death sentence. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything for my baby."

"Just kill me now."

"Shinichi!" The woman's tone grew stern. "That's no way to talk. A little acting isn't going to hurt you."

"You don't understand at all," Shinichi complained, rolling over onto his back and throwing an arm over his eyes. "Sonoko picked the play."

Yukiko thought about this for a moment. She had met Suzuki Sonoko quite a few times as she was often in Shinichi's class and was technically one of his friends when she wasn't one of his enemies. The girl was very energetic and loved nothing more than a good dramatic romance.

"Even if you don't like the story, it should be a good experience," she said.

Shinichi snorted in disbelief.

"Well, what story did she pick?"

Shinichi pointed wordlessly to his backpack. Yukiko moved to the discarded pack and rummaged through it. The contents were fairly orderly, it being Shinichi's backpack, so it didn't take her long to find the photocopied playbook. Smiling to herself, she opened it and skimmed quickly through the story. It appeared to be a variation on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. It had been tweaked to include more characters and more drama, but all the most important points were the same.

"So have you all decided on your parts yet?" she asked.

"We drew straws."

The problem was that they had forgotten to split the straws for male and female roles. One of the girls had drawn the role of king and a boy had drawn the straw for queen, but that had worked out okay considering they just had to be the royal couple. One of the fairy godmothers was also a guy, so now there would be two fairy godmothers and one fairy godfather. So far so good.

Yukiko listened as Shinichi recounted the story in a monotone. She could guess what was coming, considering her baby's general bad luck.

Shinichi had had his fingers crossed for a spot in the tech crew. He liked working with technology, and all the experience helping Kaito with his magic tricks should help. But alas, he'd drawn the last straw he'd wanted.

But of course his classmates, being high school students, found the whole situation vastly hilarious and refused to change the casting.

By now Yukiko was having a hard time smothering her laughter. "Don't let it get you all depressed, okay?" she advised, smiling down at her distraught son. "I'm sure you'll make a wonderful princess. I am your mother after all."

Shinichi grabbed a cushion and tried to smother himself.

After he'd gotten over his initial dismay, however, Shinichi had decided that it could've been worse. After all, this meant he had a very limited number of lines. For half the play, all he would have to do was lie there. No talking and no acting. It sounded pretty perfect when he thought about it from that angle.

That didn't stop him from complaining about the situation to Kaito that weekend. He had expected the magician to laugh and tease him. Therefore, he was a bit surprised when Kaito took the news with narrowed eyes and a set jaw.

"I refuse to stand by and allow some random stranger to kiss you!"

Shinichi choked on his coffee. "Don't be ridiculous. No one's going to be kissing anyone!"

"But it's in the script!" Kaito shot back, brandishing said script with a fierce scowl on his face. "The prince kisses the princess to wake her up."

"It's not going to be real! It's just a stage illusion! You should know that."

"But what if he changes his mind?"

"Nikota-kun has a girlfriend!"

"And she doesn't mind?"

"She thinks it's funny."

Kaito made a noncommittal noise. "I still don't like it."

"Well I don't like it either," Shinichi retorted. "And if my opinion doesn't matter, yours certainly won't either. Remember, you don't even go to our school."

Kaito glowered and went back to leafing through the script, muttering under his breath. Shinichi let out his umpteenth sigh that week and got up to get more coffee.

Preparations and rehearsals flew by in a whirlwind of activity. It was hectic and tiring and over all too soon.

And there they were on the night of the show. Shinichi had managed to get through the first half of the play without making any mistakes, though he would admit later that he didn't remember much of it. The brilliance of the stage lights had hidden most of the audience, making it easier for him to pretend that they weren't there. The wig was a bit itchy and the dress a bit cumbersome, but he did his best to ignore them. Now all he had to do was lie still on the prop bed and pretend to sleep.

The detective took a deep breath and let himself relax. It was rather warm with all the lights and the heavily embroidered prop blanket. He was going to have to concentrate on not falling asleep for real, he mused. He turned his head a little so that he could better hear what was going on. The lights went dark momentarily as the scene changed. Shinichi could hear the hurried footsteps as Nikota and the others took their places.

The lights came back and the next scene began.

Shinichi started in surprise, though he managed to keep his eyes closed and his face devoid of expression. That was not Nikota's voice. No, that was most definitely Kaito's voice delivering Nikota's lines with flawless accuracy. What the hell? He heard the falter in his classmates' voices as they too wondered what in the world was happening, but they rallied and the play carried on uninterrupted.

Then Shinichi sensed a presence standing right beside him and his breath hitched. It was Kaito. He just knew it was. And that meant—

Warm lips pressed against his own and he temporarily stopped breathing.

The rest of the play went by in a blur. Then the curtains fell and Shinichi heaved a sigh of relief before glaring at Kaito. "What did you do to Nikota-kun?"

The magician only laughed. "Calm down. I didn't hurt him or anything. He's just taking a nap."

"I can't believe you pulled a stunt like this."

"Really? But I already told you I wasn't going to let anyone else kiss you."

"No one was going to!" Shinichi would have said more, but he didn't have the time as the cast was called out to take their bows.

Shinichi bowed along with the rest of them, face burning all the while. His classmates were shooting him sidelong looks and giggling. His only consolation was that everyone in the audience most likely thought it had been an act.

Everyone except his and Kaito's parents anyway.

He groaned silently. He was never going to hear the end of this.

. . . . . . . . .

…Yukiko sighed dreamily. "It was a beautiful production. And a very convincing kiss~." She winked at the former stars of the show.

Kaito grinned back, proud as a peacock. "Of course."

Shinichi ducked his head to hide his blush and turned the page.

TBC