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Caught on Camera

Photograph: Tanabata

The following photo spread made Kaito smile. Next to him, Shinichi turned a becoming shade of pink and scowled, but they could all tell that he wasn't nearly as annoyed as he was pretending to be…

. . . . . . . . .

Festivals of all sorts were, in Kaito's opinion, always worth looking forward to for a variety of reasons from the general atmosphere of good cheer to the excuse to eat plenty of celebratory snacks. He was, however, particularly looking forward to this upcoming Tanabata Festival because the Ekoda District had decided to go all out this year and the headline of their program was a performance by none other than Kuroba Toichi himself, Ekoda's resident celebrity. Better yet, he had promised Kaito a small part in the show as part of his son's tenth birthday present. This would be Kaito's first ever real live stage experience in front of an honest to goodness audience of strangers. Needless to say, the aspiring magician was just about ready to start bouncing off the walls even though the actual event was still a few days away.

Fully aware of just how much trouble her rambunctious son could cause if left to his own devices while in such a mood, Kuroba Chikage had arranged for Kaito and Shinichi to spend the day helping her make Tanabata decorations—many of which, she informed them, would be used in Toichi's show. This pretty much guaranteed that Kaito would devote his full attention to the task.

True to her predictions, Kaito was all too ready to help.

In truth, even at ten, Kaito knew that his mother was trying to keep him busy. His parents were always looking for ways to keep him busy. They seemed to be afraid that he'd start plotting world domination if they left him with too much free time. This suited Kaito just fine since there were few things he disliked more than being bored.

In any case, Kaito was very much looking forward to spending the day making props for his father's show with his best friend, so he was understandably puzzled when Yukiko dropped off an unusually sullen Shinichi. No one should look that down before a festival, especially not one during which his father would be starring. True, his Shin-chan was a little weird in that he often preferred reading over much more exciting things like festivals, but Shinichi had admitted to him over the phone just a few days ago that he was curious to see just what Toichi would come up with for his Ekoda Star Festival performance. Clearly, something was wrong.

Knowing that Shinichi was unlikely to talk about whatever was bothering him in front of either of their parents, Kaito bided his time. His mother chatted briefly with Shinichi's mother before the latter left with a cheery wave (which, Kaito noted, Shinichi studiously ignored). Chikage spent the next hour teaching the boys how to make a range of colorful, paper decorations, which ranged from simple to highly complex. A few had apparently been specially designed by Toichi for incorporation into his show.

Once she had assured herself that the boys knew what to do, Chikage brought out a veritable mountain of patterned paper and left them to it so that she could go get started on making their lunches.

"Any requests?" she asked.

"I want a hot fudge sundae cake!" Kaito said at once. "With those cookie flakes and extra fudge."

"Not until after lunch," his mother replied with a fond smile. "And you, Shinichi? Anything you really want?"

Shinichi looked up from where he had been frowning at a tiny, paper kimono he'd folded to give the elder Kuroba a polite smile and a shake of the head. "Anything is fine. Thank you."

Chikage nodded and left.

The moment she was gone, Kaito turned to Shinichi and was surprised to find that he had gone back to staring at the aforementioned paper kimono. He was glaring so hard at it that Kaito wouldn't have been surprised if it suddenly caught fire.

"Is there something wrong with that one?" the young magician asked. "It looks like you did a good job to me."

Shinichi blinked those big blue eyes of his that Kaito had always found rather captivating and seemed to come back from whatever dark path his mind had been wandering. Heaving a sigh that made him sound ninety rather than nine, the younger boy let the paper kimono drop onto the pile of other such kimonos they had made and picked up another piece of colored paper.

"It's nothing," he said dully.

That only made Kaito more concerned. He wasn't used to seeing Shinichi so…listless. It wasn't right.

And the way he'd been ignoring his mother…

Hadn't his father told his mother that Yukiko would be stopping by a special shop of some kind that morning before dropping Shinichi off? Yukiko-san being who she was, it had probably been a clothing shop of some kind. The woman was totally the sort of person who would want to buy a whole new outfit just for the festival. And if Shinichi had been with her, chances were high that his mother had decided to bestow new clothes upon him as well.

It was a common enough occurrence in Shinichi's life—and one that often led to Shinichi's sour moods. Those moods, however, typically passed on their own, though it helped to provide Shinichi with some form of distraction. Novels were best, but any puzzle or problem would do in a pinch.

Kaito had just the thing.

"They just opened registration for the festival riddle contest. You have to sign up in teams of two though. Do you want to team up with me?" he asked.

Shinichi brightened for just a moment, and Kaito thought he'd succeeded in cheering his friend up. But then the younger boy had sunk right back into his gloomy mood.

"Sorry, I can't," he said, not meeting Kaito's eyes. "I'm not going."

Kaito jerked upright, paper props forgotten. "What?"

"I said I won't be going to the festival," Shinichi repeated, still methodically folding tiny paper kimonos, cranes and fish. "I'm staying at home."

"Did you get grounded?" Kaito asked. He'd been grounded before plenty of times—not that it ever stuck. But he couldn't remember any of their parents ever trying to ground Shinichi—probably because all it took to keep Shinichi home and quiet was a stack of new books (a fact which mystified Kaito to no end).

"No," Shinichi said shortly. "Can we just…not talk about it?"

Kaito's frown deepened. He very much wanted to press the issue, but he also knew that face. That was the face that said that pushing would likely cause Shinichi to clam up entirely, and that would put a damper on the rest of the day.

So instead he picked up another sheet of paper. "How about this. I'll sign us up first, so we'll have a slot when you change your mind."

"But then you won't be able to enter with someone else," Shinichi pointed out.

Kaito flashed him a grin. "I wouldn't want to enter with anyone but you."

Shinichi blinked then blushed and ducked his head.

Watching the two boys from the living room doorway, Chikage smiled, tucked her phone back into her pocket and returned to her work.

The day of the festival arrived in an explosion of color and activity all over Ekoda. With Toichi busy with last minute arrangements and double-checking his equipment and Chikage helping him, the elder Kudos were tasked with escorting their children around the festival itself. Kaito's mother dropped him off with the author and his family at a local coffeeshop both families frequented which had embraced the festival with rampant enthusiasm. Both the café and its wait staff were dressed for the festival, and they had even come out with a Tanabata menu.

Kaito, however, barely registered any of this as his gaze had zeroed in on the Kudo family—or rather on the smallest member of said family.

Seated next to the actress with a sullen expression less than suited to the festive atmosphere was what appeared at first glance to be a dark-haired little girl wearing an elaborate, blue kimono. The pattern on the garment resembled sprays of white blossoms against a starry night sky. A matching white flower hairpin adorned the little girl's head.

Except it wasn't a little girl at all. Kaito would recognize that cowlick and those big blue eyes anywhere.

Yukiko bounced to her feet the moment she spotted Chikage and waved. The adults exchanged pleasantries as the two families slowly migrated outside.

Kaito fell into step beside Shinichi, offering a cheerful greeting of his own and carefully refraining from mentioning his clothes. He knew better than to ask his friend why he was wearing a girl's kimono. Besides, the young magician was pretty sure he already knew the reason, and that reason was Kudo Yukiko (and after they'd finally gotten over that adoption fiasco too).

And now he also knew why Shinichi hadn't wanted to attend the festival.

"You can stop staring," Shinichi grumbled, tugging self-consciously at his kimono. "I know it's weird."

"It's not weird at all," Kaito blurted out before he could stop himself. Then, since he'd already started, he decided he might as well say the rest. "It looks good. I like it."

Shinichi's face contorted into a peculiar expression as though he couldn't decide whether he wanted to smile or scowl, but he blushed a becoming shade of pink.

"I'm glad you changed your mind about coming," the young magician added.

"Mom insisted," Shinichi grumbled. "And, well…" He looked away, blush darkening. "I didn't want to miss your first real show."

Kaito beamed.

He kept beaming throughout the photo shoot that Yukiko insisted they all have outside and through the farewells with his mother. He was still beaming as he and the Kudos set off to explore the festival stalls. He couldn't have stopped if he'd wanted to, and he didn't really want to. After all, his Shin-chan had just admitted that he was willing to go out in public wearing an outfit he clearly found embarrassing just to watch him perform. Life was perfect.

Spying the sign for the riddle contest, Kaito grabbed Shinichi's hand and sped off through the crowd.

Kaito gave their names to the lady running the booth, and she produced a riddle booklet and a pair of matching contest pins adorned with magpies and the number 98 for them.

"All the riddles relate to things here at the festival," she told them. "Once you think you've figured out an answer, you write it here and go get a sticker from the location. Be careful though. Just because a booth or event offers stickers doesn't mean it's a riddle answer. We laid false trails to make sure people are actually trying to solve the riddles," she warned them with a smile and a wink. "When you've finished your booklet, you come back here to drop it off. Depending on how many riddles you get right, your team number will be added to one of our lotteries. There are three different prize pools. That means that you'll get something even if you don't get all the questions right, so remember to get that booklet back here by the five o'clock deadline! The lottery itself will be at nine."

"I need to meet Dad at the stage by four," Kaito noted. "So we'll have to work extra hard and finish before then." He turned his excited grin on Shinichi. "Ready?"

"I think I know the answer to the first riddle," the younger boy declared with an answering grin of his own as he pored over the booklet.

"Hey, you're supposed to wait for me so we can work on them together," Kaito complained, though he was only feigning being upset. After all, Shinichi was finally starting to look like he was having fun, and that, naturally, was the whole point.

Feeling very accomplished, the young magician looped an arm through Shinichi's and set off once again at a brisk trot. "So where do we go first?"

By the time they had to head over to the stage where Toichi was making his preparations, Shinichi had actually managed to forget both his irritation and embarrassment and was actually enjoying himself. Admittedly, it helped that he and Kaito had managed to lose his parents somewhere along the way (or so they thought. As they would find out many years later when presented with a certain album, they had very much been mistaken). Placing the last sticker they needed in their riddle booklet, they rushed back to the booth to turn it in before making a dash for the aforementioned stage.

Shinichi wished Kaito luck then found himself a seat on a park bench where he would have a good view of the show without being trapped in the tightly packed crowd that made up the bulk of the audience.

As expected, the show was spectacular. It was a magical retelling of the tale of the weaver and her cowherd intertwined with a handful of other star-centric myths and folktales. Shinichi couldn't even begin to fathom how the magician had executed most of the tricks used to bring the stories to life, but that was only to be expected from Toichi-san. He was, after all, Kaito's father.

Shinichi's favorite part of the show, however, was when Kaito, playing the role of a magpie guide, skipped across the pool of water separating the two halves of the stage, his feet sending small splashes and ripples across the water's surface without ever sinking into it. Considering everyone could see that that water was at least three feet deep, this drew a chorus of gasps and cries of awe from the audience followed by a storm of clapping that quieted only when everyone remembered that the story was still unfolding.

Later, as all the festival lights were dimmed so as not to compete with the fireworks now blossoming across the Ekoda night sky, Shinichi felt a warm presence come to join him on the bench. He kept his eyes on the fireworks because he didn't have to look to know that the new arrival was Kaito.

"You were amazing," he said before Kaito could ask, feeling his own cheeks beginning to warm.

Kaito beamed. "I'm glad you liked it. This girl from the audience gave me a box of sweets from her family shop. Do you want one?"

Feeling suddenly slightly less content than he had been a moment ago, Shinichi shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"Ah well. Have this then."

Grinning, the young magician held his empty left hand out towards Shinichi and flicked his wrist. There was a puff of sparkling blue smoke.

Having expected a flower, Shinichi was surprised when what appeared was a little paper pinwheel. His startled expression made Kaito laugh.

"Come on," the magician added. "Let's go make wishes and check up on the riddle lottery."

. . . . . . . . .

…Kaito really hadn't changed all these years, Shinichi reflected as he gazed at the picture of the young magician offering him the little pinwheel patterned after magpie wings. The magician had always had the uncanny ability to make Shinichi forget his worries and embrace the moment. It was just one of the many things that Shinichi loved about him.

"You two were just adorable," Yukiko cooed.

"You know," Kaito murmured into Shinichi's ear too quietly for their parents to overhear. "I think I have to agree with her."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, but his gaze lingered on that last photo before he turned the page.

TBC

A.N: I'm back! A Curse MArked Fate should resume updating in about two weeks. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading. :)