A.N: It's finally done! Anyhow, this world always felt kind of quiet to me so this wound up being largely informational in my opinion. Ah well… I also kind of argued a little with my sister over the characters. Apparently our views on the XXXHolic characters differs. I don't read the fandom so I don't know how other people see them, but this runs on my personal take. Sorry if it doesn't match your ideas Sis, but it's just the way I see them. Please stop bugging me about it. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK or XXXHolic.
7: Those Things Most Valued
(World 7: XXXHolic)
If it hadn't been for the fact that the clerk in the bookstore had never heard of Kudo Yuusaku and laughed at the idea of phantom thieves, Shinichi could have believed they'd landed somewhere in their own Japan. So far everything looked ordinary enough. The technology was fairly standard stuff he'd expect to see back home and there were no monsters anywhere. The people too all looked and acted the same. And yet…the longer he walked through these bustling city streets the more he began to feel like something was off. Not wrong necessarily, just…different. It was something in the air—a difference in the atmosphere he couldn't put his finger on. There were moments when he found himself turning around quickly because he thought he'd seen something out of the corner of his eye, but there was never anything there.
Great, now he was imagining things to put himself on edge.
Pushing the unsettling feeling aside, he turned his attention back to the present. Technically, he should be looking for Kaito, but running around in circles in a crowded city looking for one person didn't make a lot of sense to him. Aome was with Kaito after all, and even if she wasn't feeling well she could probably still point the magician in his general direction (and even if she couldn't, Kaito was had his glider and could cover more ground quickly than he could on foot). The next order of business was the ever present money issue.
He thought a bit wryly that he was going to have one hell of a weird resume by the time they got home.
He had just made up his mind to go look at the newspapers in the grocery store he could see across the street to see what was in the adds when his eyes landed on a stranger (funny, had he been there a moment ago?) who immediately set off the 'something wrong' alert that had developed in him from years of detective work. The man was probably in his mid twenties. He sat on the curb with his shoulders slumped and his head down. The fingers of both his hands were buried in his hair, gripping the short, black locks as though about to tear them right out of his head.
Shinichi glanced quickly up and down the street to check and make sure there weren't any cars coming then crouched down beside the visibly distraught stranger.
"Excuse me," he said, "it's dangerous to sit here."
There was no response.
"Sir?"
Still nothing.
Frowning, Shinichi reached out and tapped the man on the shoulder. A soft tingle ran up his arm (had he imagined it?). This time the man started and looked up at him, giving Shinichi a clear view of the dark circles under his eyes. It took the man a moment to focus on him before he blinked slowly in confusion.
"wha…?"
"You shouldn't sit here," Shinichi explained again, gesturing towards the street. "It could be dangerous. Can you stand? Do you need help?"
"I…oh, uh, that's all right," the man mumbled, shuffling around and slowly dragging himself to his feet. Once he was upright he swayed dangerously and Shinichi had to grab his arm to keep him from toppling over.
"Whoa, careful there." How long had it been since the man had slept? If ever there was someone who actually looked dead on his feet, it was this man. "You should really go home and get some sleep, Sir."
"How—no, no, I can't." The man's expression grew more alert as he straightened for a brief moment before his shoulders sagged again. "Oh who am I kidding? It's not like I'm getting anywhere…" He trailed off into an agitated mumbling as his eyes flickered from side to side looking at something only he could see.
Shinichi watched him for a moment longer before clearing his throat to catch the man's attention. "Do you want to talk about it?"
The mumbling stopped and the stranger looked up again in a manner that suggested he'd only just remembered that he wasn't alone. "Huh?"
"Sometimes having someone to talk to about a problem can make it feel less difficult," Shinichi explained. "And you never know, I might be able to help." That and he didn't think the man should be left alone in his current state. He was far too detached from his surroundings to be wandering around busy city streets.
The stranger looked at him uncertainly for a long moment before eventually releasing a heavy sigh. "I suppose it would be kind of nice to be able to tell someone about it…" He sounded like he didn't believe it for a moment but was willing to grasp at a straw even if it was a straw made out of smoke.
"Why don't we sit down?" Shinichi suggested, steering the stranger to one of the empty tables outside a café a few shops down the street. More alert or not, the guy still looked ready to keel over.
Once they were sated, the stranger propped his arms on the table and stared down at its mesh-patterned surface. "My name is Hirota Kentarou and I was going to get married in six months."
"So what changed?" Shinichi prompted when he fell silent.
Hirota sank even lower in his seat. "It's just that…we went to tell her mother a week ago… I—guess I didn't make a very good impression or something. She said she wanted me to bring her—d" he paused, brows furrowing in concentration as he recited, "—a paper bag of fire, a chicken that never had feet, a container of water that was never filled or opened, and a straw to hold the sun. If I don't bring them to her by the end of the time she gave me then she won't let Yuriko marry me. Yuriko really loves her mother, and I don't want to make her have to choose between us or anything. So I said I'd do it, but—I just can't figure out what any of this stuff is supposed to be and today's the last day I have…"
"But that means you still have time."
An odd smile flitted across the man's face before he shook his head. "Even if… But regardless, at the rate I'm going, a million years won't be long enough."
Shinichi sat back in his chair and turned the words of the prospective mother-in-law's list over in his mind then smiled. "If you still have time, then there's always a chance. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can help you. The—"
"No! Stop!" the man exclaimed, frantically flinging up his hands as though he could physically ward off the words as his entire body snapped straight despite his weariness. "It's my task; I have to do it myself."
Shinichi studied the man's panicked face for a moment then sighed. "Did she say you couldn't ask for help?"
Hirota paused at that, his hands lowering as he thought. "Well, no, but it's obviously a test for me. She already doesn't like me. Getting help would be like cheating. It could only make things worse."
"You could put it that way," Shinichi said slowly. "But you know, knowing when to ask for help is also a skill." It wasn't something he was terribly good at himself, but two years running around after criminals as an elementary school kid had taught him the truth of it. In some ways, he supposed, learning when and how to ask for help was a great deal harder than doing everything yourself. "Think about it this way, if there were two people who had a problem. Like you, they have both tried their best to solve it themselves, but neither have had any luck. One of them insists on continuing to work alone but he fails to solve it in time for the solution to be helpful. The other decides that he needs another opinion and asks someone else for help and they solve the problem together. Who would you think was wiser?"
"Well, I…" Trailing off, Hirota remained silent for a long time just staring hard at the tabletop. He was quiet for so long that Shinichi was beginning to wonder if he'd fallen asleep when he finally opened his mouth. "I…guess you're right." Tearing his eyes from their vigilant scrutiny of the table, he met Shinichi's gaze. "If you could, I would appreciate it if you would help me."
X
It had to be either irony or luck—probably a little bit of both, Kaito mused. After all, what were the chances that he'd wind up in a park where the main entertainment was apparently bird feeding? There were pigeons everywhere. They picked about the grounds, waddled over picnic tables, and all 'round ruled over the premises. The sight might even have been considered frightening by some. To the children who ran around with bags of bread crumbs to feed them however it was clearly unparalleled.
As it was, Kaito had decided to let his own birds have a little fly around. They were more than happy to join their feathery brethren and be fed bits of bread by the children and their parents. Only Aome showed no interest in doing anything other than doze on Kaito's shoulder.
Deciding it was probably best to let her rest a little longer, he found himself a seat on one of the benches not currently occupied by pigeons. From here he could keep an eye on his doves as well as the entrance to the park beyond which he could see the occasional car drive by. It was a little bizarre to be back in a modern world again after their last few adventures. It made them feel like dreams even though he knew they had been just as real as this place.
Snapping his fingers, he made the wizards' box appear and took a quick inventory. Shinichi would probably want to restock while they were here and they needed to know what they still had. He had just finished making the last of it disappear back into the box when someone cleared their throat beside the park bench.
"Excuse me."
Vanishing the box, Kaito glanced up to see a teenager with dark hair and a placid expression watching him. "Yes?"
"Are you the magician?" the stranger asked.
"I am a magician," Kaito replied, studying the stranger carefully from behind his Poker Face. "Can I help you?"
"I'm supposed to find the magician who just arrived here. If that's you, then there is someone who wants to see you."
"You mean…someone actually sent you here to meet me?" Kaito asked, not quite sure whether to believe it or not. But there wasn't any reason for a total stranger to lie about such a thing. "Would you mind if I asked who and why?"
"Yuuko. She said you would like to talk to her."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "I would?"
The stranger shrugged. "That's what she said."
"I see. Well then…" Getting to his feet, Kaito whistled. Instantly all his doves withdrew themselves from the pigeon feeding frenzy and flew to him whereupon they vanished. (the stranger didn't so much as bat an eye, he noted). "Let's go see this woman I would like to talk to. I must say, I am curious to know where she gets her information from."
X
Hirota looked up at the convenience store feeling a bit bemused and maybe a touch doubtful. Well, it wasn't as though he had any ideas of his own left. He might as well see what the blue-eyed teen had come up with. He seemed so sure about it all that it gave Hirota a renewed sense of hope.
"Does your girlfriend's mother happen to be a vegetarian? Or vegan?"
Hirota blinked, dragging his thoughts back to the present, then frowned. "I—think she might be. I do seem to recall Yuriko saying that her mother didn't eat meat though she never went into any detail about it… But what does that have to do with anything?" he asked, trailing after Shinichi as the detective snagged a cart and set off into the convenience store with the gait of the purposeful.
"It makes it very likely that this is one of the items on your list," Shinichi explained, stopping by one humming shelf and picking up a plastic package to show the bewildered man accompanying him.
"What is this?"
"Faux chicken." Seeing the blank look on the man's face, Shinichi clarified. "It's a chicken substitute and since it's not made out of meat it's never had feet."
"Oh, I see." Hirota's expression brightened as he took another look at the package. "You know, I never knew this kind of thing existed. But I guess I've always been more of the 'eat whatever is nearby' kind of person."
"I'm sure you're not the only one," Shinichi replied, laughing a little as he dropped the package into the shopping cart. "You should be familiar with the third item on your list though."
The man looked honestly surprised. "I should?"
Shinichi nodded. "Why don't you take another look at it?"
"I guess…" Hirota took the folded list he had received days ago and unfolded it for the thousandth time to gaze down at penciled words that were beginning to disappear from the constant crinkling and smoothing out they had endured. He'd already memorized every word however and he would probably have seen them as they had been even if they were to be completely erased. "So…are you saying this container of water is also here in the grocery store?"
"Yes."
"But the only water they have here is bottled…" He trailed off, frown deepening before he let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed a tired hand across his eyes. "But what am I thinking? Those would have had to be filled anyway, so it can't be them…"
"Think about it this way, if it was never filled and never opened, then how did the water get inside?"
"It…must have already been there…?"
"Exactly."
"But how is that possible? The water must have got in somehow. You can't make something that's full of water without putting the water in at some point."
"Yeah," Shinichi agreed, "but what if it wasn't made?"
Hirota's brows furrowed. "What? You mean like it just grew that way or something?" There was a beat of silence before his eyes lit up. "Like a coconut or an orange! They're mostly liquid inside." Then he frowned again. "But then how do I know which one she wants? And I guess it could also be something like an egg…"
"Well, this part of the note is the only part written in English," Shinichi pointed out. "You recited it that way when you told me about it earlier too so I'm sure you noticed. From what you've told me about this woman, I'm guessing that's not an accident. The clue could be in the language."
"Meaning it is, right?" Laughing a little, the man turned back to studying the crumpled note in his hands. "Well, it shouldn't be about filling or opening since those are both things people have to do… the only nouns in here are container and water… Container…water… But when you call something a container it's usually manmade…but the word is obviously an analogy of some kind…?" He glanced up from his reading at Shinichi but the detective only nodded, indicating that he should continue. "So that leaves water… Something relating to language that has to do with water…"
"You could walk around and see if anything strikes a bell," Shinichi suggested.
Hirota nodded, eyes immediately going to the surrounding displays. He hadn't exactly excelled in English back in school, but he hadn't been horrible at it either, and as his eyes paused on each item he searched his memory for its English name.
When he saw them he couldn't hold back the burst of laughter. It was so simple! How had he not thought of it before?
Shinichi started as his companion erupted into a laugh and sprinted past him. He'd barely turned around when the man was back again, cradling in his arms a large, oblong fruit patterned with pale and dark green stripes.
"It's this, right?" the man asked, taping the watermelon in his arms.
His excitement was contagious, Shinichi thought, half expecting Kaito to make some kind of comment on the matter before he remembered that Kaito wasn't there at the moment. It was actually kind of weird.
Hirota leaned over the cart and carefully set the melon inside. "Are the other two items in the store too?"
"The first one I'm not sure about, but I'm pretty certain I saw…" Trailing off, Shinichi turned to scan the store. The grocery section of the store was set to the front right of the store and he could see all the way to the front doors pretty clearly from where he was standing. There! He knew he'd seen them on his way in. Gesturing for Hirota to follow, he made a beeline for the hat stands by the shop door. Once there he picked up a few different straw hats and turned back to his companion.
"You should probably pick the one you think she'll like."
Hirota blinked at the hats for a second before laughing. He studied the hat selection before taking the one that had a sunflower attached to its ribbon and laying it beside the watermelon. The remaining hats were returned to their assorted perches on the hat stands.
For a long moment Hirota looked down at the three items in the shopping cart with a much happier expression that took a lot of the weariness that had been so clearly weighing him down before out of his face. Then he looked up at Shinichi with a smile that the detective was a little puzzled to notice was touched with a hint of sadness.
"I think I might know what the last one is now," he said. "I was thinking about these three," he waved at the cart, "and, well, I tried thinking about the way every line's been some kind of analogy type riddle. So I was thinking about when fire, or something like fire, would be wrapped in paper. And, well—it's a paper lantern, right?"
Shinichi smiled and nodded. "I believe so. I'm not sure if they sell them here though."
"They do. There's a small furniture section in the back. They always have lanterns there." He glanced out of the shop window and frowned slightly. Then his gaze dropped to his watch before he fumbled through his pockets and came up with a rather battered looking wallet. Riffling through it, he hurriedly extracted several bills and turned to Shinichi. "Um, I'm sorry but could you take these to the checkout lines while I go get the lantern?"
Seeing no reason to refuse, Shinichi nodded and accepted the bills. A strange tingle went through his fingers as they came in contact with the paper but it passed so quickly that it could have been his imagination. Taking the shopping cart by the handlebar, he pushed it towards the checkout lines as Hirota disappeared towards the back of the shop.
The lines were short today and moving quickly. The woman in line before him took her last bag and started to walk away but there was still no sign of Hirota.
"Do you want to buy that or not?" the cashier asked impatiently as Shinichi scanned the area again.
"I do—I do, sorry," he said quickly, reaching into the cart and beginning to place the items inside on the counter. It was at that moment that he noticed a small, red, paper lantern sitting in the back corner where it had formerly been hidden by the watermelon. He stared at it for a moment before picking it up and adding it to the assortment to be rung up. That was odd… He hadn't seen Hirota bringing the lantern, but he was also sure it hadn't been there earlier. And why hadn't the man said anything? Come to think of it, why hadn't he stayed after bringing the lantern? This was his stuff after all.
Shaking his head, he scooped up the change, thanked the cashier, and tucked the watermelon under one arm before taking the remaining bag with his free hand. Stepping out of the way of the next customer, he finally spotted Hirota hovering anxiously near the convenience store doors.
"Hirota-san!" he called as he came within earshot of the man. Hirota's head jerked around in his direction as his expression grew relieved. "Here's your change."
"Oh—uh, thank you." The man took the coins and stuffed them into a random pocket as he and Shinichi stepped back out on the city street. Once they were outside, Shinichi offered the bag and melon to Hirota but the man's expression fell suddenly. He made no move to take either.
"I…I can't. I—I'm so late and I just…"
"Night hasn't fallen yet Hirota-san," he reasoned. "If your deadline was today then you still have time."
"You don't' understand. It's not that…" Hirota's eyes grew distant for a moment before he looked back at Shinichi. "Could…could you…take it to her?"
The detective's brows furrowed. This wasn't making any sense. "Why?"
"It's just—I can't…"
"We'll take it there for you," a new voice said before Shinichi could ask any more.
Both of them looked around to see a gangly, dark haired teen standing a few steps behind Shinichi. He walked up beside the detective and took the bag Shinichi had still been holding out to Hirota. His gaze never left the man in question as he offered what looked to Shinichi like a reassuring smile.
"You don't have to worry."
A relieved smile broke out across Hirota's face as the last of the anxiety drained from it like clouds lifting. "Thank you." And even as the words left his mouth the man's body began to fade. Shinichi stared in shock but the newcomer didn't seem surprised at all. "She lives in the yellow house on the corner by the park near here. And please…tell her…tell her that I'm sorry I couldn't make it," Hirota's voice added, sounding as though it was coming from a long way away. Then there was nothing left at all.
A handful of change clattered to the ground. The stranger gathered the coins and put them into the shopping bag.
"I guess we should probably take these over there now," the stranger said, turning to face Shinichi for the first time since he'd arrived.
Shinichi took one more look at the empty space where Hirota had been then fell into step beside the stranger. "Could you…explain what happened back there?" he asked a little hesitantly. "That man… I take it he wasn't—wasn't human…?"
His companion seemed momentarily taken aback by this. "Oh, no, he was still human. He just hadn't passed on yet." His eyes grew a little sad as he glanced down at the bag he was carrying. "I'm guessing he was waiting for someone to help him deliver these."
Shinichi felt his own stomach twist at the implication but he pushed it back in favor of finding answers. "You mean he was a ghost?"
"Yeah… You didn't know?" he asked curiously. "Haven't you seen one before?"
"Not any real ones," Shinichi replied, shaking his head. "Are they common around here?"
"I wouldn't really say they're common," the other replied. "Though it can be kind of hard to tell sometimes unless it's obvious that most everyone else isn't seeing them."
Shinichi nodded thoughtfully but any further conversation was interrupted as they arrived at what appeared to be their destination. It was the only yellow house in the immediate area and they could both clearly see the entrance to the local park across the street. There was no doorbell so they had to knock. A few moments later a woman answered the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked politely as she looked them over with curious eyes.
"I'm Watanuki Kimihiro," Shinichi's companion introduced himself.
"And my name is Kudo Shinichi," Shinichi added, shifting the watermelon in his arms for a better grip as he examined the woman. She seemed to be about the same age as Hirota-san, give or take a year, but there were faint circles under her eyes which were slightly red as though she'd been crying a lot lately. They made her look older and rather worn out. "We're looking for a Miss Yuriko?"
"That would be me."
"We met someone who wanted us to give you this," the other teen explained, holding out the bag he'd been carrying. "He wanted us to tell you that he was sorry he couldn't make it. He wanted to."
The woman took the bag hesitantly and gestured for Shinichi to place the watermelon on the floor inside the door before peering inside it. As they watched her expression morphed into one of shock before her face grew pale. Tearing her gaze from the contents of the bag, she fixed them with a look that was pained and yet almost hopeful.
"The—the man who sent you, is he…?"
Watanuki shook his head and looked down. "No, I'm sorry.
Her face fell and Shinichi's stomach twisted a little at the confusion and renewed grief he saw there. "But…then when…?"
"It took some time to get everything," he said, hoping it would explain at least a little to her peace of mind.
"Oh…I see…" Yuriko straightened after a moment, visibly pulling herself together, and offered the two teens a wan but genuine smile. "Thank you."
There was a slightly awkward moment of silence before she thanked them again and bid them goodbye before retreating back into her house with the bag clutched tightly in her hands. The two boys stood a few seconds longer in front of the closed door before Shinichi turned to his companion.
"So…is that all?" he asked a bit hesitantly. "Do we have to go back and…uh, tell him…?" Granted he wouldn't know how.
Watanuki shook his head. "I'm sure he already knows." Then he started as his eyes widened. "Ah! I almost forgot I still have to go find that person for Yuuko. Sorry Kudo-san, it was nice meeting you. Bye!" That said he spun on his heels and began running back the way they had come, muttering something to himself about stupid bosses who couldn't just give proper descriptions when asking him to find someone. Shinichi blinked after him, startled by the sudden change of mood. A flutter of motion caught his eye and he reached out automatically to pull the thing out of the air. It turned out to be a poker card with a rather intricately designed back.
"Wait! Watanuki-san, you dropped your card!"
The gangly high schooler skidded to a stop and came hurrying back with a sheepish smile. "It's not actually mine but thanks. If I don't bring it back Yuuko'll probably make me pay for a whole new set."
"Why are you carrying around one poker card?" Shinichi asked curiously.
"Actually I have two. Yuuko said she wanted to meet the person they meant something to."
Shinichi looked again at the card in his hand which he was on the verge of handing over. It was the ace of spades. "Can I see the other card?"
Puzzled, Watanuki shrugged and pulled a second card from his pocket. It was the ace of clubs.
"Did she tell you anything else about the person you were supposed to find?" he asked, staring at the cards.
"Nothing useful," the other teen grumbled, scowling briefly. "She's just like that. All she said was that I'd meet him or her in this area," he waved a hand vaguely at the city around them, "and that he or she would be new here."
"Are you looking for two people? Or just one?"
"Just one."
"I…think maybe you were supposed to find me," the detective said slowly, wondering how that could be possible. But, well…he'd just met a ghost today. That certainly counted for something. And now that he thought about it Kaito had mentioned that Yami and Yugi had come looking for him when they'd landed in the duelists' world. Had they disturbed some kind of worldly balance this time too? He hoped not. He didn't particularly want to be the cause of another monster invasion or something. "I think these cards are supposed to be me and the friend I'm traveling with."
"Really?" It was Watanuki's turn to blink in surprise from behind his glasses. "Well, um, do you have time then?"
"Yes," Shinichi replied. Lots of it, he added to himself. "But could we stop by the library for a moment? There's something I want to look up."
"I guess we could," Watanuki replied, sounding more than a little confused.
When they got to the library, Shinichi found the newspaper archives and asked for the papers from the past week. He spent a few minutes flipping through them before he found what he was looking for. There, in the corner of one page, the face of Hirota Kentarou looked back at him accompanied by an article about an unfortunate man who had been hit by a reckless driver late in the evening three days ago. He stared at the article for a long moment, feeling rather odd.
X
The woman seated before him was tall and graceful with long, black hair and an enigmatic smile. Dressed in fiery crimson, she held herself with the casual yet elegant air of someone with a great deal of confidence. In short, Kaito thought, she looked like an interesting person.
"I assume then that you are the Lady Yuuko who wished to see me?" he inquired, his own Poker Face securely in place.
"I am," she agreed amiably.
Kaito waited a moment but the woman didn't elaborate. "May I know why?"
"Because you need to."
The magician raised an eyebrow at that. "Indeed. And how, pray tell, do you know that? I would also appreciate an explanation as to how you knew where and when to send a messenger to find me."
"It was destiny," she replied with an almost dismissive wave of one manicured hand.
"I am sorry my lady, but I do not believe in destiny."
"Is that so?" Yuuko only smiled.
"If everything was predestined, then there would be no point to anything. No need to hope or dream or strive. It would mean all the choices we make are moot for the outcome cannot change." And that was something he couldn't believe. Not only because it was an unpleasant thought but because it went against his nature to give in to such an entrapping world view.
The woman seemed to consider this for a moment before shifting to sit straighter amidst her cushions. "You misunderstand. Destiny is not all encompassing. The future is always a spread of many paths. But nonetheless there are things that are meant to happen and paths that cannot be changed once taken. They are inevitable. Your path led you here because here is where you needed to be."
"And here we are again," Kaito noted, squashing the urge to get annoyed. Man this lady was starting to remind him of Akako—just less sinister and more weird (if that was possible). "You never did answer my question. Why do you insist that I need to be here?"
Yuuko however only lit her pipe. "That is for you to tell me. The fact that you are here at all means you need something from my shop. So tell me, Magician, what is your wish?"
So it was about wishes, was it, he mused. It was such a broad question. Not to mention a rather personal one. Frankly he didn't believe in getting wishes granted—not like that. You were supposed to grant your own wishes. Or at least he thought so. On the other hand, if this woman really did have that kind of power, she might be able to help him and Shinichi with a certain other problem.
He snapped his fingers. A puff of smoke later he was holding the sleeping Aome. She stirred briefly at the disturbance before settling down again.
"I don't know if this falls into your expertise my lady, but if you could cure this bird of mine I would be most grateful."
Yuuko's eyes narrowed as she studied the bird before she nodded slowly. "I see. That is certainly a very interesting problem you have there."
"You can tell what's wrong?"
"I can," she agreed. "And I believe I can help you. But I will require a payment. You do something for me, and I will help you cure your bird friend."
"What kind of something?" Kaito asked warily, indigo eyes narrowing.
"You will fetch something for me."
She paused and Kaito was just beginning to wonder if she was expecting some kind of answer from him when his ears caught the sound of approaching voices. A moment later the door to the room opened and in walked Shinichi and a gangly boy with glasses Kaito didn't recognize.
"Watanuki," Yuuko greeted the stranger. "It certainly took you a rather long time."
"If you wanted me to be faster you could have given me better directions," he complained. "I had to stop and ask everyone I met!"
"Is that all?" Yuuko inquired, sounding a strange mixture of amused and apathetic.
"Well," Watanuki replied, calming just as quickly as he'd erupted before as his gaze softened. "We also met a ghost who needed something delivered."
"Doumeki only took twenty minutes."
He scowled. "He only had to look in the park! I had to search five city blocks!"
Kaito watched the half teasing half bickering back and forth for a few moments longer before turning to Shinichi. The detective had taken a seat next to him and seemed to be lost in thought.
"You met a ghost?" he asked curiously. "A real ghost?"
Shinichi started then nodded, blue eyes darkening a shade. "He died in a traffic accident three days ago."
The magician shook his head, bemused. "Why am I not surprised that he found you with a dead person?"
"At least it wasn't a murder," Shinichi grumbled. "Where did you land?"
"Park. I seem to have an affinity for them."
"How fortunate for you."
"I thought so too."
Yuuko cleared her throat, drawing the two teenagers' attention back to her. Watanuki had retreated to the kitchen, grumbling all the way. "So do you accept?"
Shinichi frowned in confusion, looking from the woman to Kaito. "Accept what?"
"Yuuko-san here says she can help Aome," Kaito explained, expression growing serious. "But she wants us to do something for her in return."
The detective turned back to Yuuko. "Can you really help her?"
Yuuko studied his face for a long moment before smiling faintly. "You have very interesting eyes." She leaned forward and Shinichi leaned away, feeling oddly like a bug under a microscope. "You need only to look you know."
"What?" the detective asked in confusion. The statement, while fairly simple, seemed rather out of the blue and irrelevant. "What are you talking about?"
To his relief Yuuko sat back, still wearing that enigmatic smile. "Oh nothing. It was just a thought. And yes, I can help you. For a price."
"She wishes us to acquire something for her," Kaito elaborated.
"What do you want us to get?"
"It's called a cormadilotus," the woman replied after a moment's pause. "There is one living in Doctor Min's house. I will make an appointment for you. All you have to do is go there, put it in here," she produced a small, glass bottle with a cork in it and handed it to the detective, "and bring it back to me."
The two travelers looked at the bottle then each other before Kaito voiced the question they were both thinking. "A what?"
"A cormadilotus," she repeated. "You will know what it is when you see it because only your blue-eyed friend here will see it."
"Does it belong to the doctor?" Shinichi asked, frowning slightly.
"No, it simply lives there."
Blue met indigo for a moment before Kaito inclined his head to the waiting shopkeeper. "We accept your offer."
Yuuko nodded and indicated that they should leave the room while she made a few calls. The two stepped outside and were directed to the next room by a pair of twin girls who, though cheerful, gave Shinichi the creeps. It was the way their eyes looked oddly blank even when they giggled and smiled. They were greeted in the next room by another teen whom Kaito introduced as Doumeki. He had apparently been drinking tea with a round, furry black creature with rabbit-like ears and short, stubby legs. Shinichi thought it was a stuffed animal until he saw it happily dig in to one of the small cakes set out on the table.
"Excuse me, but what is that exactly?" Kaito asked as he leaned in for a closer look at the odd little creature.
"Mokona's not an it!" the creature exclaimed, looking up from its cake and making both travelers start. "Mokona's a Mokona!" Declaration made, it went back to its cake.
"Oookay, I suppose that's fair enough."
Shinichi sat down and introduced himself to Doumeki who returned the greeting politely.
"Do you work here too then?" the detective inquired, accepting the cup of tea Doumeki offered him.
"No. I jus help out."
"And he's very helpful," Yuuko's voice came to them as she glided into the room. "Isn't he Watanuki?"
Watanuki, who had been walking in after her with a plateful of mochi, scowled instantly and opened his mouth to object but he didn't manage to get a single word out as the Mokona creature turned towards him with a happy cry of "Mochi!" and launched itself towards the plate. He let out a yelp of surprise and tried to yank the plate out of its reach. "Can't you at least wait until I put it down?"
"Mokona wants mochi!"
Ignoring the bickering pair, Yuuko stepped to the table and handed Kaito a sheet of paper. "This is the doctor's address and the time of your appointment."
Kaito skimmed the note before making it disappear. "Next Thursday huh? Guess we'll have to find a place to stay then."
"Can any of you recommend anywhere?" Shinichi asked.
"There's an apartment near my place that was just put up for sale," Watanuki suggested, having finally managed to set the plate of mochi on the table along with the Mokona creature.
"We're not looking for anything permanent though," Kaito pointed out, picking up a small cake. "Anyone renting?"
The bespectacled boy shook his head. "Not that I know of. Sorry."
"You could stay at my place," Doumeki offered, taking another sip of his tea. "I have lots of room."
Yuuko smiled. "That's an excellent idea."
X
Doumeki's house turned out to be a local shrine. It was a rather quiet place. The travelers were directed to a guest room after greeting Doumeki's mother where they found some spare futons in the closet.
"They haven't been used in a while," their host informed them as he helped extract the futons from their resting place. "We should probably put them under the sun for a while."
The three teens gathered up the futons to take them outside and do just that. With their beds-to-be out sunning, Kaito and Shinichi sat themselves down to keep an eye on them and get a moment's rest.
"Now I know why people say moving is a pain," Kaito said jokingly, nudging one futon with his foot. "You know, I've lived in the same house my whole life. And now I'm moving at least once every few weeks."
"I've never actually moved either," Shinichi admitted. "Not officially anyway."
"On the bright side, we don't have any furniture."
"That's true."
"So what do you want to do for the next few days anyway? Since we don't have to go see this lady doctor until next Thursday."
"Well, we should probably take some time to reorganize our supplies and find a way to restock on anything we might need."
"Ha! I knew you'd say that!" the magician crowed, grinning.
Shinichi rolled his eyes. "It's only common sense. I think it'd be wise to pick up some simple medicines too. Actually a coffee shop by the library needed some extra help since most of its usual staff is down with the flu. The owner was complaining about it to one of the librarians. I took a leaf out of your book and talked to him. It's part time and only until his usual staff members get better but since we don't have to pay rent we shouldn't need too much."
Kaito laughed. "A coffee shop huh? Do they offer free beverages for employees or something?"
The detective smiled a bit sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Actually, they do."
"Really? I was just kidding." The magician shook his head, still chuckling. "With how much coffee you can go through in a day, I'm not sure hiring you is going to be worth it for them."
Shinichi's look turned into a glare. "Says the thief who worked in a jewelry store."
"Ah, but you can't give back what you drink, whereas I have returned every jewel I've ever taken."
"So then what do you plan to do with yourself in the next few days?"
The magician shrugged. "Take a look around, maybe do some street performing. That seems to have worked pretty well so far. We should write a book. How to survive when traveling with no usable money whatsoever. Rule number one, be nice to people. Rule number two, have some skills in entertainment. Rule number three, be incredibly lucky or bring a friend who is." He ticked each rule off on his fingers. He stopped when he heard Shinichi laughing and glanced over at the detective, his own grin softening into a smile. He liked hearing Shinichi laugh. He didn't seem to do it very often.
"So restock first, then medicine," the detective listed once the laughter had died down. "And if we have anything left after that we can see about finding some better cold weather clothes."
"And maybe get some of our photos printed," the magician added. "Sounds like a plan to me. And now that the business is over, how about we play a game?"
"I'm not playing cards with you," Shinichi replied, eyeing the deck the magician had produced like it was a snake that might bite him.
Kaito just chuckled as he started shuffling. "I wasn't going to suggest it."
"Then what did you have in mind?"
"Storytelling."
"...That's a game?"
"Let me finish," Kaito admonished, waving a finger at him like someone scolding a child. Shinichi squashed the urge to swat it (since such an action would only complete the image). "Basically we take turns drawing cards. Depending on the cards we draw, we choose a story to tell. The type of story will depend on the suit: clubs for funny stories, hearts for personal stories, diamonds for stories about other people, and spades means you answer a question or tell a story based on a topic of the other person's request. And just to make things more interesting, let's say the stories have to be real—or at least based on real events. So, how about it?" He held the deck out to Shinichi like an offering.
The detective looked at it dubiously for several seconds before apparently deciding it couldn't hurt and drawing a card. "Queen of spades. So…I guess that means you choose the topic?"
Kaito nodded (he'd been hoping for that). "Let's see… How about something on your parents?"
"Well…" Shinichi thought for a moment before continuing. "It wasn't all that long after I first turned into Conan. This really weird woman with glasses and curly black hair showed up at the Mouri Detective Agency and told Ran and Kogoro that she was my mother…" Shinichi quickly outlined the events of that rather bizarre two days. "So basically it was my parents who kidnapped me and they managed to rope Agasa into helping them put on the whole elaborate show. Scared me half to death." He grimaced at that.
"Weren't you angry?" Kaito asked curiously.
The detective shrugged and sighed. "A bit, but…when you grow up with my parents you kind of have to get used to that kind of thing. And they did have their reasons. They just—don't work the way other people do."
The magician shook his head. "Man, the more I hear about your parents the less I think I understand."
"Welcome to the club," Shinichi replied. And he wasn't joking. "So now it's your turn right?"
"Yep." The magician snapped his fingers and the top card on the deck shot up into his hands as though summoned. "Three of hearts. Let's see…"
"There's this girl in my class," Kaito began after a moment of thought. "I believe I've mentioned her before. Her name is Koizumi Akako, and she's a witch. She's always been the cryptic sort, but she has almost every guy in school eating out of her hand. Sometimes literally. Well, when we first began our acquaintanceship, she…"
X
"How may I help you?" Shinichi asked for what felt like the hundredth time that day as he finished writing the previous customer's order onto a cup and handing it to the one other person currently working in the shop.
"I…guess I wouldn't mind some green tea."
Shinichi looked around quickly at the familiar voice. "Watanuki?" he asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, well, I just thought I'd come see how you were doing," the other replied. "And I brought you a city map. I wasn't sure if you guys had gotten one yet and you'll probably need it."
Shinichi blinked then smiled. That was rather thoughtful of him. "Thank you. Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you about," he added, ringing up the tea. "Do you have a moment?"
"Yeah, sure. What is it?"
"Hold on, I'm supposed to be going on my break anyway. Just give me a moment to let the manager know."
Five minutes later the two were seated near one of the coffee shop windows with a cup of green tea and a cup of coffee respectively.
"I was wondering…" Shinichi paused, mulling over his words before continuing. "From what you said before, I gathered that not everyone can see ghosts around here, right?"
Watanuki nodded, gaze flickering to look out the window beside them. Following the direction of his gaze, Shinichi saw two young women chatting as they sat in front of a café across the street. But…judging from the way Watanuki was looking it didn't seem to be the women he was watching but something in the air around them.
"Is there something there?" he asked.
Watanuki turned back to him in surprise. "There's a spirit but…can't you see it? I mean, you saw that ghost the other day…"
Shinichi shook his head slowly. "That's kind of what I wanted to ask you. From what Yuuko-san said, I'm sure this cormadilotus thing will be like these ghosts—spirits—whatever, but I don't think I've seen any of them since Hirota-san. There are…moments when I think there might be something there, but it's never there when I actually look. Is there some way to practice?"
"Practice seeing spirits?" Watanuki repeated, sounding equal parts incredulous and uncertain. "I…don't know, I think it's something you're just born with." He laughed a bit sheepishly. "To be honest, I've kind of always wished I couldn't."
"I see." Shinichi frowned thoughtfully. But he'd come from a world without ghosts. Or at least he hadn't believed in ghosts while he was there. Now… There were a lot of things he was finding it harder and harder to be sure about lately, even about his own world. But obviously he'd never seen a real ghost before. Had something about him…changed then? So that he was beginning to see things now? He wasn't sure if he liked the idea for all sorts of reasons. For one, if he was changing, then what else might happen? For another, how would he ever know what was real and what was imaginary if he really did end up being able to see things others couldn't? On the other hand that encounter with Hirota-san had left him thinking… If spirits really could linger after death, then wasn't it only right that someone saw them? Could help them? Who knew how long Hirota-san would have been trapped if he and Watanuki hadn't come along.
"I'm sorry I couldn't really help," Watanuki said, pulling Shinichi's attention back to him.
"No, it's all right. You've given me a lot to think about. Thank you."
X
"Excuse me, but I was wondering, are you part of some kind of movie company or something?"
Kaito blinked at the young woman who was currently working at the photo developing booth. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, well, it's just that your photos are all really…" She trailed off and pulled out a few of the photos by way of explanation. By chance both photos she produced had been taken when they had still been on the pirate ship. In the first Nami had been showing off some of her maps to Shinichi, which wouldn't have been a particularly strange picture if you couldn't see a hand on the railing behind him—a hand whose arm stretched across the backdrop of the photo and out the other side without showing any shoulder. The other was of Usopp fixing part of the ship's rigging assisted by the ship's furry doctor. Come to think of it, a lot of their photos probably looked pretty strange. He could only imagine what the developers had thought when they'd seen them. They probably wouldn't believe him if he told them they weren't contrived.
"I was just wondering what show you were producing," the girl added, excitement alight in her eyes. "It looks interesting."
Hiding a smile, he cleared his throat and pulled on a somber expression. "Actually it's for this special effects in films class I'm taking. You see…"
X
Shinichi looked from the map Watanuki had lent them up at the large, western style house and then at the address scribbled in the margins. "I'm pretty sure this is the right place."
"We've only got a minute left before the appointment so let's hope you're right," Kaito replied.
Shinichi sighed and refolded the map so that he could tuck it back into his jacket pocket. "Yuuko-san said this lady was a doctor right? So what exactly was the problem we were supposed to have anyway?"
Kaito blinked. "What? You mean she didn't tell you? I thought you went to see her yesterday."
The detective shook his head. "No, she didn't. And I only went yesterday to ask for the doctor's phone number just in case we couldn't find the place. So what is it?"
"Yeah, about that…" The magician scratched the back of his head. "She didn't tell me either."
"What? But I thought… Didn't you two talk about it before I got to the shop?"
"Nope."
"So then what are we supposed to tell the doctor? It's going to be weird if we show up to the appointment and can't even tell her why we're here."
Kaito just shrugged. "I guess we'll have to wing it. Maybe if we're lucky she'll tell us what we're supposed to be here for before asking us any questions herself."
"It's not like we have much of a choice at this point," Shinichi grumbled. "Since you're the actor, you can be the patient."
"Aww, but we were sent here by a witch so maybe she's not a normal doctor. I was thinking we could tell her we wanted to find you an exorcist—ow! Hey, I was just kidding!"
"Well, it wasn't funny."
The two made their way up the bush-lined path towards the door. It was a very well tended house. From the vegetation to the paint on the house itself, everything looked pristine. And yet something about the place still felt off to Shinichi. He just couldn't quite put his finger on what.
Noting that the detective seemed to be lost in his thoughts, Kaito took it upon himself to ring the doorbell. Its light, cheery ring echoed through the chambers of the house beyond. A moment later it was followed by the sound of muffled footsteps before the door swung open to reveal a small woman who looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. Her hair was pulled back into a glossy, black braid which matched her similarly dark eyes.
"Hello," she greeted them with a warm smile. "How may I help you?"
"We are here to see Doctor Min," Shinichi replied, bringing his focus back to the immediate present. Still, that feeling just wouldn't go away…
"Ah, that would be me. And you two are?"
"My name is Kudo Shinichi."
"And I am Kuroba Kaito." The magician swept into a bow and offered her a rose. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
She looked at the flower then clucked her tongue at him. "I see. Now put that away and come inside."
Kaito blinked at her retreating back, traded confused looks with Shinichi, and made the rose disappear. He'd gotten a variety of reactions from different girls to that greeting over the years from giggles to indignant yells to utter difference (very rare, but not unheard of), but this was a first.
"Come on," Shinichi said, taking off his shoes and stepping inside. The doctor was waiting for them beside an open doorway farther down the hall. Once she was sure they had seen her, she disappeared into the room beyond, leaving them to follow at their own pace.
Halfway to the room in question, Shinichi spotted a framed diploma on the wall that declared the doctor to have a PhD in psychology. Oh great… He tapped Kaito on the arm and gestured to it. The magician's eyebrows rose.
"She sent us to a shrink?" he mouthed, somehow managing to convey his incredulity without uttering a sound.
"Well, I'm sure lots of people would happily vouch for the fact that you are insane," the detective mouthed back, the corners of his lips quirking up in amusement. The whole list of KID task force officers for one, headed no doubt by Nakamori himself.
Kaito rolled his eyes then smirked. "Says he who has run into enough murders not to be surprised when someone drops dead nearby. I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with that."
"Is there something wrong?"
They both turned quickly at the sound of the doctor's voice to find the woman watching them.
Hurriedly assuring her that nothing was amiss, the two finally stepped into what turned out to be a very large, very airy office with huge windows that looked out onto a well tended garden. It was obviously designed for maximum comfort. The color scheme was warm and the furniture arranged to give the place a spacious yet homely feel.
"Have a seat," the doctor invited, gesturing to the many plushy chairs scattered around the circular coffee table. "Would you like some juice? Or water?"
"Water would be fine," Shinichi said.
"I'll have some too," Kaito added. Giving the chairs a once over, he picked one that would allow him a good view of most of the room as well as the windows looking into the yard. His companion sank into an adjacent chair. The doctor excused herself for a minute before returning with three glasses of ice water. She handed one to each of them before taking the last herself and sitting down across the table from them.
"So," she began once everyone had settled down. "How long have you been seeing each other?"
Shinichi choked on his water. Cold liquid splashed on his hand and across the table in front of him. Had she just said what he thought she'd said? To his side Kaito had stopped with his glass halfway to his mouth. He blinked. None of the list of stories and answers he'd started compiling after finding out the woman was some kind of psychiatrist looked like they were going to work anymore. He started drawing up new lists.
"Perhaps we should start from the beginning," she suggested, seeing as neither of her 'guests' had said anything yet. As she talked she handed Shinichi a wad of tissues, politely ignoring the fact that he'd sprayed water all over her table. He took it numbly and began to clean up the mess. "Why don't you tell me more about yourselves? How long have you known each other?"
"Almost three years," Kaito replied, letting his moment of surprise slip away and settling down into story-making mode.
Beside him Shinichi was doing his utmost best to pretend he was somewhere else. It wasn't working. Finally he gave up and decided instead to occupy himself with the task of trying to see what the heck it was Yuuko wanted them to get for her. Blue eyes scanned the empty air around the room, searching in vain for some kind of hint that there was something more than air there. The problem was that he had no idea what he was looking for. How would he even know it when he saw it?
All he knew about it was that she had said it was something only he would see. But it probably wasn't a ghost. It sounded like a species of something. So would it be some kind of spirit creature? How big would it be? The bottle she'd given them was kind of small. Was he going to have to scour the house or something? That would take forever. But since Yuuko had only made one appointment for them (god, what had she told the woman?), she probably expected him to be able to find it in only this one hour…
Leaning back in his seat, he surveyed the room again, this time not so much trying to see something as just taking everything in. And gradually, like a heavy fog dissipating under the burning rays of the sun, the air seemed to shift.
There seemed to be wavering streams of smoke snaking across the ceiling. A quick look around the room showed that no one else seemed to have noticed. Was this what Yuuko had been talking about? The longer he looked at the wispy streamers the clearer they seemed to become. They twisted across the ceiling and dripped down the walls. In fact, they looked kind of like vines. Tracing them with his eyes, he found that they all led back to one corner of the ceiling where the shadows looked particularly thick. Or rather, not shadows—more like a cloud, only its edges were too stable. He could pick out smooth curves and elegant lines that all came together to form something he could only call a flower.
It was massive. At least two feet across, its huge, gossamer petals hung in a soft mass of translucent layers. The whole thing pulsed slowly almost like a beating heart. With each pulse it felt as though the air grew darker.
"Sorry but, is he all right?"
Kaito blinked at the doctor's sudden question and followed her gaze to where Shinichi was staring fixedly at a corner of the ceiling like it was one of the most fascinating things he had ever seen (or like there was a monster clinging to the ceiling that he was expecting to see leap down upon them at any moment). Did that mean Shinichi had found something? Well, he'd let him know if he had. "He tends to get caught up in thinking a lot," he said with a shrug as he turned back to Doctor Min.
"He doesn't seem to like us very much," she observed. "He's hardly said anything or even looked our way."
"He's just shy," Kaito assured her.
She accepted the explanation without protest, leaving him to wonder what kinds of weird people she'd been exposed to in the past. "May I ask how you found your way here and what it is you wish to accomplish?"
"A friend of ours recommended we come see you. As for the rest… It's a long story," he told her with all honesty as he heaved a drawn out sigh. "I don't suppose I could have another cup of water?"
The woman nodded with a kind smile and picked up his empty glass. "I'll be right back."
The moment she was gone, Kaito turned to his companion—who was still staring at the corner of the ceiling.
"I hope there's a reason you've been ignoring me," he informed him. "Just so you know, you have given me free reign to tell her whatever I felt like, and I will continue to do so until you decide to join the conversation."
"It's up there in the corner," Shinichi said, pointing to the corner of the ceiling farthest from the windows (the same one he'd been glued to all afternoon, of course). "It's some kind of flower. I think it's what Yuuko wants."
Kaito stared but couldn't see anything but wall. "Okay…I'll take your word for it."
"The question is, how are we going to get it? I mean, it's not even solid. And it's fifteen times bigger than the bottle."
"I'm sure it's not a normal bottle." There was a puff of smoke and the magician was now up in the corner of the ceiling, supporting himself by bracing his free hand and both feet against the walls. Shinichi twitched as he watched in mild discomfort the way Kaito's head seemed to be sticking right through one of the odd plant's large leaves.
"So where is it? We're going to have to be quick about this before the good doctor gets back," Kaito called down, glancing around at the air as he held up the open bottle.
"Move your hand higher and farther out," the detective called back, squinting. The drooping petals of the flower could almost be said to come to a point. Maybe if they could put that point into the bottle… "A little more to your right—too much, left, a little more… There! I guess maybe—what the…"
"What?" Kaito asked, looking down at Shinichi then back at the empty bottle in his hands. It was clear from the detective's wide-eyed expression that something was up. "What's happening?"
"It's…kind of like the flower's melting and being pulled into the bottle," Shinichi explained, eyes fixed on the bizarre sight. The vines that had been creeping across the ceiling too were growing thinner by the second as they retreated towards the vanishing bloom. It was like watching a video of something growing being rewound. And with it that lingering sense of wrongness in the air was also fading. Inside the bottle soft, shadowy folds grew thicker and darker.
Kaito heaved an exaggerated sigh. Not being able to see what was happening kind of sucked. "Let me know when it's done."
When Shinichi finally gave him the okay he dropped back to the floor and fished the cork out of his pocket. Tapping it back into the bottle's mouth, he glanced around when he heard Shinichi catch his breath. Following the detective's gaze, he noted with some surprise that the bottle was no longer empty. It was now half full of a faintly luminous amber liquid.
"Huh, doesn't look much like a flower to me," he commented, swishing the liquid around in the bottle. It seemed to be rather viscous, crawling along the glass like honey.
"It—kind of…" Shinichi waved his hands around, not quite sure how to describe what he'd seen. "Dissolved…?"
"Let's hope Yuuko-san doesn't mind getting her payment in liquid form then."
Further discussion had to be postponed as they both heard the doctor's footsteps coming back.
"Can't we tell her this was a mistake?" Shinichi hissed at the magician as he slumped back into his seat.
"If we were going to do that we should've done it at the beginning, it would just look like you're trying to get out of it now," Kaito pointed out. "Besides, since you weren't saying anything, I already told her we've been going out for six months and that we've been trying to work out some problems since we moved in together for university."
"You said what?" Shinichi sputtered in horror. "Why?"
"Obviously because that would be what she would expect. There had to be a reason a friend would recommend we see a relationship councilor. Honestly Shinichi, it's just a story, no need to go freaking out. If you want to get out of here faster, we'll have to make her come to the conclusion that we don't have to be here."
"And how are we supposed to do that?"
"For one, you can scoot over, that chair's made for two." As he spoke, the magician relocated himself. "Now just relax and imagine that this is all a dream. I'll do the talking."
Shinichi shot him a dour look but it was too late to argue as Doctor Min reappeared.
X
"Now that wasn't so bad was it?" the magician prodded as they left the doctor's house, amusement dancing in his indigo eyes.
Shinichi shot him a flat look. Clearly he didn't think the question even warranted a proper answer. "You have to ask?"
"Oh, I don't know, I thought it was kind of fun." Folding his arms behind his head, Kaito flashed a grin at his companion. "Just imagine what the people back home would think. Kaitou KID and the Heisei Holmes—the fun we could have!"
Shinichi's expression morphed to one of incredulity. "Only you would find that fun." In his own mind all he could see was Sonoko coming after him with fire in her eyes and thunderclouds over her head. He shuddered. "It sounds like a nightmare."
"You wound me! Do you really find the idea of going out with me that horrible?"
"That is so not the point."
"Oh? So is it maybe then that you have someone waiting for you at home and it's the reminder that bothers you?"
"No," Shinichi snapped, wondering if Kaito was maybe trying to make him feel uncomfortable. "What? Do you?"
"Have someone waiting for me you mean?"
Shinichi nodded, a little surprised that the magician hadn't just laughed. He hadn't really meant to ask, the question had just slipped (a kneejerk reflex he supposed). He glanced up towards the sky. There were no clouds.
Kaito was silent for a long moment before he answered. "Not in the romantic sense, no. I suppose there might have been," he added, sounding more like he was talking to himself than to Shinichi, "but that was a long time ago. It would never have worked anyway. Besides, she started dating Hakuba about a month before we left." He shook his head in pity. "I guess there's no accounting for taste."
Shinichi snorted though he had to admit that he was relieved he hadn't struck any nerves. For a moment there he'd been afraid it was a bad question to ask.
"We should go straight to Yuuko-san's," he said instead.
X
"Interesting." Yuuko held up the bottle and examined the amber liquid inside before turning her gaze to Kaito. "You did this?"
The magician shrugged. "I didn't do anything. It just happened."
"But you put it inside."
"Or so Shinichi tells me."
"I see." She studied the bottle for another minute before setting it down on the table. "Most interesting indeed."
"So can you tell us what's wrong with Aome now?" Shinichi asked.
"She is a creation," the woman replied. Reaching out with gentle fingers, she took the sleepy dove from where she had been dozing on the table and lifted her up to eye level.
"The people who gave her to us referred to her kind as shadow beasts," Kaito explained, choosing the non-game based term he recalled the duelists using a few times. "They said they dwelled in a different realm."
Yuuko nodded thoughtfully. "I see. And how did you receive her?"
The travelers traded looks at the rather oddly phrased question before Shinichi answered. "In that world they had a game which used cards based on these creatures. Before we left they gave us one of those cards and it—became Aome."
"So it was the card they gave you? Not the creature herself?"
They both nodded.
"So when did it go from being a card to being your bird friend here?"
"It happened the moment I took it," Shinichi replied, thinking back.
The woman nodded, not looking the least bit surprised (although by this point Shinichi was sure nothing ever surprised her). "And when did you first notice that she was not feeling well?"
"When we got to the last world—the one we were on before we came here—we noticed that she was spending a great deal more time sleeping,"
"And you two?"
The travelers shared another moment of puzzlement before Shinichi asked, "What about us?"
"Did you two do anything you haven't done since you started your journey?" the woman clarified.
"Well…we both caught colds," he offered after a moment's thought.
"Anything else?"
"I don't think so."
Yuuko nodded, setting Aome down and bringing the tips of her fingers together as she gazed across the table at them. "To truly understand the problem you wish to solve, you have to know that the laws of worlds naturally vary just as worlds do. This is particularly true for the laws of power. The one who gave you this bird," she gestured at Aome, "knew that the self contained nature of her existence as it is tied to you," she inclined her head towards the detective, "her summoner, would allow her to remain with you no matter where you landed regardless of the differences in those laws. In essence, though she is the creation of the one who gave her to you, she was created to draw her strength from one of you and not her creator, which is why she can travel with you despite the fact that she belongs to a realm that most likely does not exist outside of her world. However, it seems that at some point in your travels she must have come into contact with an opposing type of power strong enough to disrupt her own. From what I can tell her own magic is fairly strong and stable, so it wasn't enough to destroy her, but it did interrupt her connection to you, her source of energy. The connection should have repaired itself, but the fact that you yourself fell ill soon after disrupted the process. To cure her you must clear the pathway."
"But how? I don't know any magic."
"You don't have to. All the spell work was done before you received her. Just call to her—with your heart, not your voice. It might help to be closer."
Shinichi glanced from Yuuko to Aome.
"Go on," Kaito said encouragingly.
Still feeling rather dubious about the whole thing, Shinichi carefully scooped Aome up into his cupped hands. She shuffled around a bit in her sleep to get into a more comfortable position before settling down again. He watched her for a moment, not really sure where to begin. He could feel the other two occupants of the room watching him expectantly. It wasn't helping.
Sighing, he closed his eyes and did his best to block them out. Instead he focused on the bird sitting on his hands, willing her to be better. She might have been born from magic, but she was more than just their guide or some kind of pet. She was a friend and an ally. And they owed her.
It was odd but the longer he sat there with all his attention focused on Aome, the more he was beginning to notice that he could tell it was Aome he was holding and not some other bird. Not because it was supposed to be, but because she…felt different. He couldn't put the feeling into words. It was like knowing that something was hot or cold. And his sense of it was growing clearer and sharper by the second until something seemed to snap into place. It wasn't painful, but it was a little shocking.
A soft coo made him open his eyes. He found himself looking down into a pair of beady, blue orbs set in a feathery white face.
"You should remember however," Yuuko interjected as Kaito broke out into a broad grin, "that if she ever fully loses her connection to you she will be pulled back into her own world."
X
"So is everything all right with your bird now?" Watanuki asked when he saw them coming outside.
"Yep, see for yourself." Grinning, Kaito lifted his right hand and a blue-eyed dove spread her wings to soar in a happy circle around the yard. They all watched her perform a series of energetic acrobatic maneuvers. Suddenly she banked and vanished through an open door.
"Aome!" Shinichi called after her but she didn't return.
"Where does that door lead?" Kaito asked.
"That's the storage room," Watanuki said as all three followed the dove.
They found her perched on one of the long shelves, preening herself. She chirped happily when she saw them and turned her head to direct their eyes to the cylindrical green stone beside her.
Kaito whistled and shook his head. "To think, it was here the whole time."
It was a clear, green cylinder, only if you looked inside you could see layers of rings dividing the cylinder into flatter cylinders so that it was really a stack of discs. Each disc in turn had a grid etched faintly across it. In effect it looked like something a mathematician who had decided to take up etching images inside crystals might have decided to do for practice.
"So this thing helps you guys travel?" Watanuki asked, peering curiously at the green stone. "How does it work?"
"We don't actually know," Shinichi admitted.
"But we're learning," Kaito added, running a finger along one of the translocater's smooth edges before taking it off the shelves.
"May I see it for a moment?" Yuuko's voice inquired from the open doorway. They turned to see her making her way towards them where she held out her hand. Kaito handed it to her. She turned it over in her long fingers for a few moments before handing it back with an amused smile. "Just a little advice, since you gave me a little more than I asked for. It hears you, but it cannot listen because you do not know how to speak. You already have everything you need. Just remember that sometimes we are blinded by what we believe."
"So you do know something," Kaito observed, indigo eyes sharp as he studied Yuuko's face. "You're just not going to tell us."
"Well, I could tell you more," she said amiably, shrugging one shoulder as the corners of her mouth quirked up.
"At a price."
Her smile grew. "Of course."
"Then I thank you for the offer but I think we can find our own answers."
She laughed lightly. "That is a wise decision. I doubt you could have paid the price."
"Does that mean you're leaving now?" Watanuki asked. "You could stay for dinner."
"I wanted to go back to thank Doumeki and his mother," Shinichi replied.
"Then join us for dinner," Yuuko declared. "We'll invite them."
Shinichi glanced at Kaito who shrugged. "It's probably better to leave in the morning anyway."
Arrangements were made for the travelers to head back to Doumeki's house and invite them to dinner at Yuuko's. They would also be making a quick round of the local shops for any last minute supplies.
"Why did you tell them they couldn't have paid for the information they'd need to get home?" Watanuki asked once the two had left, turning to frown at Yuuko.
His boss only looked at him in that way that said there was so much that he didn't understand. "Tell me, what would you say is the most important thing to have in life?"
Watanuki blinked. "Uh…happiness, I guess."
"And what brings us happiness?"
"Wouldn't that depend on the person?"
One elegant eyebrow rose. "How so?"
"Obviously different things make different people happy," he replied, not at all sure where this was going.
"Such as?"
"You know, like finding their true love or getting lots of money. Being famous, getting a certain job, that kind of thing."
"And what would you call those exactly?"
Watanuki was starting to get annoyed. "I don't know, dreams?"
"Exactly."
He blinked. "But…what does that have to do with anything?"
"Without dreams, human lives would be meaningless. They are what give us happiness and make us strive. When we have earned our dreams, we have also earned happiness. But the hope that our dreams can be achieved and the knowledge that there is no final dream but always another to be reached are just as valuable as the dreams themselves. None of these things can be bargained for, for their value is beyond human calculation."
"But all they wanted was to know how their stone works. It's just a tool."
"To you, that would be all it is, but to them that stone is far more than just a tool. It is their hope." She sighed and turned her gaze back to him. "I'm thirsty. Get me some sake, Watanuki."
"You aren't supposed to drink sake when you're thirsty! You're supposed to drink water!"
"Don't be such a spoilsport. We're having a party! You better get going if you want to finish getting all the food ready in time."
TBC
Next: Detectives of a Different Kind [Yu Yu Hakusho]
A.N: If any YYH fans remember the diagram they used once when talking about the relationship between Reikai and Makai, that's where the translocater's shape came from. YYH is one of my own favorites so I'm definitely looking forward to trying out working with it. It'll also be more energetic. Oh, and this story now has a cover picture. You can see it here, just replace the dots:
http:/alaena-h(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Travelers-261916923
Anyhow, I'm going to be moving soon. I'll probably be able to get some more of Midnight up first but then you probably won't see me for a while. And a big thank you to everyone for being so supportive!