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Caught on Camera

Photograph: Best Intentions

To Shinichi's own surprise, the next photograph made him smile…

. . . . . . . . .

The little seven year old detective wasn't sure what he disliked more about being sic: the physical discomfort or the sheer boredom of being unable to do anything but lie around in bed. He couldn't even read anything because his eyes wouldn't focus right, and trying too hard to force them to do so made his head start to ache terribly.

Groaning, he rolled onto his side and pulled the blankets closer about himself, making sure his back was to the window. His throat was soar, everything ached, and he just felt all around awful. The sunny sky outside just seemed to be mocking him.

In another part of Tokyo, a certain young magician was pouting for all he was worth at his mother in the hopes that it would make her change her mind about not letting him visit his best friend. It wasn't working. Chikage knew her family far too well to fall for any of their imploring expressions.

"If you really want to help him, you should let him rest," she said and left it at that.

Kaito disagreed. Shinichi had already been resting for three days straight. That was more than enough rest for anyone. Besides, even if he did still need rest, Shinichi had to be bored by now. In Kaito's mind, there was very little in the world that was worse than being bored. And, as a best friend and an aspiring magician, he had a responsibility to rescue his Shin-chan from such a terrible fate.

Therefore, realizing that trying to persuade his mother to see things his way would be futile, Kaito resorted to Plan B.

Plan B involved picking all the locks on the door to his father's workroom and sneaking into the pantry while his mother had her back turned. Then he was out his bedroom window and on the way to the train station.

Shinichi wasn't entirely sure how to react when he opened his eyes at a sound to see a boy pushing open his window and climbing through it. To say he was surprised, however, would have been a gross exaggeration. Kaito had started breaking in and out of his own and Shinichi's houses since he'd turned six—much to Chikage's exasperation. But though Shinichi was happy to see his friend, he knew having visitors right now was a bad idea. He simply didn't have the energy to be a good host, and he didn't want to get Kaito sick either. Although, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember Kaito ever getting sick even when half the kids in both their schools were down with the flu.

"Hey there, Shin-chan," Kaito said by way of greeting as he shut the window behind himself. "How're you feeling?"

"M'kay," Shinichi managed to mumble. The exertion of his vocal cords made his throat itch, and he coughed. Not wanting to risk talking too much, he turned questioning eyes on Kaito, silently asking the other boy what he was doing.

"I brought you something," Kaito declared. Climbing carefully over the fluffy mound that was Shinichi's blanket cocoon, he hopped off of the bed and onto the floor. There, he swung the backpack he'd brought with him off of his back and unzipped it. Out came half a dozen bars of chocolate.

Chocolate always made Kaito feel better, and he'd heard how there were scientific studies proving that chocolate—or, well, dark chocolate anyway—was actually good for your health (his father had said something about it to his mother during one of their trips to the grocery store).

Shinichi blinked at the candy piling up on his desk. Now he really was at a loss for words.

"Which one would you like?" Kaito asked.

"…M no' really hungry…"

"You can eat them later then. Think you can sit up?"

Increasingly confused, Shinichi nodded. With Kaito's help, he sat up on his bed. The magician arranged the pillows so that Shinichi could lean back against them. Then he moved to stand in the middle of the floor, grinning.

He snapped his fingers. There was a small puff of smoke, and one of his father's top hats appeared in his hand. He swept into a showman's bow then placed the hat on top of his head. It was too large and nearly slid down over his eyes, but his grin only broadened.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he said dramatically. "Welcome to Kuroba Kaito's magic show!"

Neither boy noticed the man sitting on the roof of the house opposite Shinichi's window.

. . . . . . . . .

…The show had only lasted about half an hour, and several of the tricks hadn't gone quite as well as Kaito had envisioned, but it had been the first complete show he had ever performed. And it had been performed for the audience that mattered the most.

"So, feeling better?" Kaito had asked once he'd taken his last bow.

Shinichi recalled that moment with a smile.

To be entirely honest, he had felt every bit as awful after the show as he had at the beginning. If anything, the flashing lights and smoke from Kaito's tricks had made his head hurt even more. But even though he had felt dreadful, it had been a happy kind of dreadful because he couldn't help but be touched by the fact that Kaito would put so much effort into trying to help him.

So Shinichi had nodded.

Even thinking back on that afternoon now, Shinichi couldn't help but smile, a faint blush making its way onto his face.

"Why are you blushing?"

The detective looked up to see Kaito quirking an eyebrow at him. He ducked his head as he worked to get his expression under control. "No reason."

TBC