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Night descended upon the area like a curtain, a silent stage that stood empty save for a sole performer staring out from the long shadows cut by the rising moon. From his perch he observed as the unattended window jostled back and forth a bit before slowly clicking open to reveal two small figures on the other end. They carefully clamored over and out, quickly glancing about themselves to check if the coast was clear, then proceeding to seek refuge in the nearby shadows. Side by side, the taller figure stood with a hand wrapped tightly around her companion’s wrist while the other peered at their surroundings with a startlingly alert visage for someone so young. The moonlit figure smiled at the sight.
How cute.
Despite their prior encounter having been brought about by his own indirect hand he still had found himself caught off guard by that piercing stare. Blue eyes that belied an intelligence and cunning so out of place on such a young face, sharp tongue that would be enough to bring a weaker man to his knees…
‘Truly, that fierce countenance…’ He mused with a quiet fondness, ‘It’s just as it was back then.’
Leaning back against the thin wire-frame mesh, thoughts drifted to long bygone days and with them a memory floated to the surface. He shut his eyes, allowing the echoes to wash over him and pull him into its depths…
♣⓮⑫🍀⓮⑫♣
“Shin-nii! Shin-nii!”
From back against where he had ensconced himself behind a tower of books that very nearly rivaled him in height, the lad in question poked his head up. He pulled an annoyed grimace and huffed, “I’ve told you a thousand times Tōichi, it’s Shinichi not Shin-nii.”
Tōichi Kuroba, age six-and-a-half, beamed unrepentantly up at the older boy. “Mhn. Of course, Shin-nii.” The child grinned at his half-brother’s groan and rocked back and forth on his heels. “Anyways guess what?”
Shinichi sighed, side-eyeing the boy who seemed to be practically vibrating where he stood (which was never a good sign.) “What is it?”
Upon the signal the kid’s grin grew more than a touch manic. “Well…” He shifted a bit, slipping his hands behind his back. “Take a look at this!”
“A deck of cards?” The boy blinked. And most certainly it was; a simple set of blue-backed playing cards were clutched within the tiny palms presented to him. “Where did you get this?”
“Okay now,” Tōichi drew in a breath and –with a glimmer in his eye— launched into his long-winded tale. “So you know when Mum and Dad had everyone over the other day to celebrate Auntie’s birthday and the party got crashed because Mum got in an argument with Grand-père Arsène when he tried escaping through the window after showing us how to do that blank face thing when he was on babysitting duty so they could all play that one adult card game and drink?”
“You mean a ‘poker face’?” The foreign term was a bit rough on his tongue but he managed to work it through regardless, raising an eyebrow as he did.
“Yeah, that.” The boy made a dismissive gesture with one of his hands, keeping the deck secured with the other. “Well, you know how also he did all that fancy stuff with the cards too?” A slow nod. “Well, I took the initiative to borrow the deck for a little bit–” He caught sight of the other’s disapproving gaze and waved a flippant hand to cut him off, “–don’t worry I asked if I could this time!”
“‘This time?’”
“Anyways check this out!”
A look of intense concentration overtook the young face. The cards suddenly arced out of his hand and into the other and then back again. Back and forth, they flew in a hypnotic rhythm; the blue and white designs danced as the pattern slowly shifting up and down, side to side, yet never left that steady pace. It was an honestly impressive sight.
The intrepid performer snuck a peek at his audience during what was a particularly complicated movement over his head and internally grinned at what he saw. His older half-sibling appeared utterly gobsmacked, and only rightly so. Hours upon hours of practice culminated into that little show and the dedication to his newfound craft was plain as day.
‘And sure, it’s small show now but someday I’ll be preforming on stages across the world! London, Paris, Sydney, Osaka, ooh maybe even–’
“Aack! Oh merde—”
While his mind had drifted to future flights of fancy so had one of the fast-moving blurs of blue, warping until it had slipped up and away from its companions and with it came a chain reaction that had the slips of paper raining down upon the poor boy’s head.
Tōichi stared down at the pile of cards with a crestfallen expression. It kind of looked as though he was about to cry if one was being completely honest. At the soft weight upon his shoulder, he glanced up with a sniffle to find Shinichi staring at him, a gentle smile upon his face.
“That was amazing Tōichi. The way you turned the cards this way and that was really impressive. It was like I was watching one of those professional stage magicians.”
The small boy’s eyes fell to his hands, the expression uncertain and vulnerable. “B-But…I dropped them.” He said, confused.
Shinichi gave him an unbothered shrug, “It was still pretty cool up to that point. Besides, you just need a to practice a bit more is all.”
“I have been practicing! It took me weeks to do just what I showed you!” He let out a cry, stomping his foot. “Even if I practiced forever and ever it’ll never be as good as how Grand-père did it!”
The eldest brother had to roll his eyes at this, “Well yeah, because Grand-père Arsène is ancient so that means he’s had a bunch of time to learn and practice that stuff, right?”
“…Y-Yeah?”
“So by the time you get old and wrinkly like him then you’ll be the one with a whole new repertoire of tricks even greater than what he showed us!”
A sniff. “Really?”
“Mhm.” He nodded; a firm light gleamed in those striking blue eyes. It was a look of utter conviction that could steal the breath from one’s lungs and if it hadn’t already the other’s next turn of phrase would’ve worked just as well. “Because when you do get to be that old and become an amazing magician then I’ll be able to get a front row seat with Yūsaku and our family and we’ll get to see you show off all that practicing you did.”
The corners of his eyes curved up into a soft expression, “Couple words of advice though: Try not to lose your focus next time. Okay?” His smile took on an impish bent. “And you really shouldn’t practice Grand-père’s ability to swear in twelve languages as well.” The unholy light in his eyes mirrored his brother’s earlier one as he tacked on wryly, “It wouldn’t be a good look for the audience to see the guy they came there for getting his mouth washed out with soap by his mother.”
“Ah, allez vous fai–” A single eyebrow rose, Tōichi flushed. “er…nevermind.”
Time to change the subject, before the other made good on the implication. “Say, where is Yūsaku anyway?”
Shinichi opened his mouth to respond when suddenly a large crash echoed through the house, startling them both and cutting off what he was about to say. Together they turned to face the source of where the cacophony originated: the entrance to their father’s study.
One of the many “forbidden zones” of their massive abode; never to be entered without an adult present lest there be consequences and yet it seemed as though someone had.
How curious.
Another loud clatter emanated from behind the door followed by a terrified yelp. Sharing a side-long look with one another, they crept over to it and peered inside. What they saw there drew them up short.
There, perched on the topmost shelf and looking damn near about to piss himself was their youngest sibling.
“That’s father’s bookshelf Yūsaku, what are you doing!?” The eldest hissed.
“I just wanted to see some the stuff on the upper shelves and suddenly the wall tried to kill me and now I’m stuck and gonna fall. Get me down!” The boy wailed, peering down at them through terrified eyes.
“Okay! Okay! Don’t panic we’ll get you down. I’ve got a pocket knife for any more tripwire and one of those books can serve as a weight for the pressure plates. Tōichi help me get a ladder or something we can climb on and stop laughing.” The smallest child yelped, wobbling slightly and sending a few rare first editions tumbling to the floor.
“Don’t move Yūsaku! You’ll risk setting off the traps again, just hold on. Argh merde Mum’s gonna kill us.” This use of an invective that he had just scolded his brother for using mere minutes ago only made the laughter from said boy increase. Tōichi doubled over, clutching at his stomach in mirth (at his brother’s plight, his earlier tears a distant memory. Oh, man he was never going to let the either of them live this down. It really was too funny…
♣⓮⑫🍀⓮⑫♣
The man smiled softly, distant gaze staring out at the world below. While the pair had safely made it back, with them had come memories of a simpler time so long ago; still fond even with the bittersweet twinge.
‘While the container may not be the same as it was, what lies within shall remain unchanged as aeons pass.’ He tugged the brim of his hat down to shadow his eyes. ‘Shinichi…I swear I will find a way to undo that accursed bind that has hidden away both memory and form, on my honour and pride as a magician I vow this to you. I will get my brother back.’
‘After all, you still have yet to meet your nephew.’ Lips tugged up into a fond crinkle.
‘You’ll love him. He’s just like me when we were that age and you could bet your arse that when he gets older he’ll probably want to follow in my footsteps as well.’ Tōichi allowed himself a broad (if a touch manic) grin at the thought of his older brother’s face as he was unable to help but imagine the look of dismay upon the older man’s face when he told him it.
‘Honestly, a detective. You could’ve been an underground doctor like Father was or at least an author like Uncle Maurice and Yūsaku but no, a detective, of all things. Absolutely insufferable.’ He chuckled lowly, disappearing into the night with a shake of the head like the phantom he billed himself to be.
‘Though…I do have to wonder if Yū’ll actually get my message this time. Eh, if he doesn’t I’ll just go throw precious stones at his window again.’