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Caught on Camera
Photograph: Namesake
"What's that bit of white fluff in your hair?"…
. . . . . . . . .
It was summer vacation, and the Kudos had taken their son with them to Hawaii for a week long vacation. Having lost his favorite playmate, the six year old Kaito was getting into thrice as much trouble as usual.
"Can't you do something about your son?" Chikage demanded of her husband on the evening of the first day that Shinichi had been away. She had already cleaned up more messes in that one day than any parent should have to in a month. She was half afraid that she was going to turn around and find that something had caught fire. Either way, it was only a matter of time before something broke.
Toichi wondered why Kaito was always "your son" when he was causing trouble. He pondered the problem at hand through the rest of the evening. Then, after dinner, he called Kaito aside.
"I have something for you," he told the aspiring magician. Then he snapped his fingers. There was a small puff of pink smoke. When it had cleared, he was holding in his hands a small, white ball of feathery fluff with a pair of beady black eyes.
And that was when Kaito was presented with his very own dove for the first time.
"Now, you have to be very careful with her," Toichi instructed. "Birds are much more fragile than human beings."
Kaito waited impatiently for his father to finish detailing how he should care for his new pet. The moment Toichi had finished, he ran off with the little bird in his cupped hands to show his mother, indigo eyes bright with excitement.
Chikage smiled at her son's enthusiasm. She had to hand it to Toichi. It looked like he'd struck gold with this idea. "Does she have a name?"
Kaito's brows furrowed before he ran back into the other room to consult his father. A moment later he came pattering back.
"I get to name her," he announced.
"So what will you call her?"
Little Kaito spent all of three seconds thinking about the question before declaring, "Shin-chan."
Chikage blinked then hid a smile.
The six year old magician spent the rest of the week doting on his new dove. Everywhere he went, the small white bird would be perched on his shoulder or nestled in his hair. Chikage often overheard him talking to the dove much the way he would have talked to Shinichi, sharing his thoughts and anecdotes and showing her his latest tricks. By the end of the fourth day, he already had her coming when he whistled, and he could be seen trying to teach her some of the tricks he'd seen his father's doves perform.
It was all rather cute, Chikage thought, but she foresaw some confusing times ahead for when the original Shin-chan returned.
X
"You…named your dove after me…"
"Yep."
There were a lot of things Shinichi could have said. For one, he could have pointed out that the dove was female. He might also have mentioned how it would have made more sense to at least change the name a little because he just knew that there were going to be some mix ups because of this. But he didn't say any of the dozen or so such thoughts bouncing around in his head because part of him was just a little bit flattered that Kaito had named his first dove after him.
So in the end, all he said was, "Oh."
And when Kaito came running into the room where they were doing homework together saying, "Shin-chan, I got you some of those seed cakes you like!", Shinichi got to practice for his future career as he deduced that his friend was talking to the dove and not him.
X
When school started up again, Kaito asked his father for a second dove so that Shin-chan wouldn't get lonely while he was at school. Toichi agreed. And so Kaito's personal flock of doves increased in number by one. Though Toichi said that he was doing a very good job raising them, he didn't get any more until almost a whole year later.
"Mom! Shin-chan laid eggs!"
Chikage almost dropped the ladle she was holding. "What was that?"
"My doves! I found two eggs in the nest!"
"Ah." The woman looked enlightened. "That's great."
"I'm going to tell Shin-chan." With that, the seven year old was tearing out of the room. Chikage watched him go then shook her head, smiling softly.
. . . . . . . . .
…"And over here in the next photo, we have Kaito, Shin-chan, Shin-chan, and Shin-chan's fledglings!"
TBC