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Path of Dappled Light

7: New Faces, Old Friends

Shinichi.

The sound of that name sent a jolt down his spine. It was so familiar. That was—was that his name? It was. The excitement that that knowledge inspired in him, however, paled to the feeling that had risen at the sight of those indigo eyes.

He knew those eyes. He'd seen them in his dreams. And now he finally had a face to go with them.

That expression though… It felt wrong in those eyes and it made his stomach twist with guilt because he thought he might be the cause of it even though he didn't know why.

"You don't recognize me?" the newcomer asked slowly in the manner of someone picking his words with great care. There was a tightly controlled air about him like a bowstring drawn taught. It made the blue-eyed teen a little nervous.

"I'm sorry. I was in an accident," he explained, deciding it was best to be blunt. "I don't remember what happened."

The newcomer considered this for a moment, his painfully strong grip on the other's shoulders relaxing slightly. "In that case, tell me what you remember."

X

"So you don't remember anything?"

"Bits and pieces," Shinichi admitted. "It'll come back," he added, tone growing more confident. Then he paused, giving Kaito a slightly sheepish smile. "Um, I didn't catch your name."

Indigo eyes stared at him a moment longer before their owner seemed to come to a decision. Then he stepped back and swept into a deep, showman's bow.

"Kuroba Kaito, soon to be the world's best magician," he declared. "But you can call me Kaito." Straightening, he produced a white rose with a flourish and offered it to Shinichi. His sharp eyes picked out the way the smaller teen started at the sight of the rose. It was good to know that those bits and pieces included bits and pieces about him. He waited patiently as Shinichi examined the rose before taking it gingerly as though the bloom was made of spun glass. The small, wondering smile that spread across his detective's face then made the tight knot of anger and fear that had been building in his chest since he'd seen the car wreck begin to ease.

They weren't out of the woods yet as far as problems were concerned, but he'd found Shinichi, and that was the important thing. Everything else could be dealt with at length now that he was sure his detective was alive and safely in his custody (where he was going to stay for a long, long time if Kaito had anything to say about it—which he would).

"Do you think the family you've been staying with would mind if I paid them a visit?" he asked, pulling Shinichi's attention off the rose and back to himself.

"They wouldn't mind," the detective assured him. "They're both very kind people. Did you want to go now?"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble for them, yes."

"Itou-san is out, but Mizumi-san should be at home."

He followed Shinichi through the village streets, eyes carefully tracing every inch of him in search of additional signs of injury or ill health as he listened to the detective introducing the people and places they passed. Almost everyone they passed greeted Shinichi with a smile or a wave. They called him "Kochiro" though, Kaito observed. It didn't take long for them to reach a small, cozy looking house with a neatly groomed garden. Shinichi turned onto the front path and made his way to the door with the easy familiarity of someone returning to—if not a home, then at least a place he had grown accustomed to treating as such.

"Mizumi-san," he called as he opened the door (no lock, Kaito noted). "We have a guest."

"Really? Who is it?" a woman's voice inquired shortly before the speaker herself stepped out of one of the inner rooms and into view. She blinked at Kaito in surprise. "Why, I've never seen you before."

"I only just got here," Kaito explained, stepping forward. "My name is Kuroba Kaito. I came with a few others in search of my friend here." He gestured to Shinichi. "I hear he's been staying with you. Thank you for looking after him."

The woman looked him over then smiled. "It was no trouble. We've enjoyed having him here. I must say, I will be sorry to see him go."

"Well, we're not leaving yet," the magician replied, flashing a brief grin before his expression grew serious. "I was wondering though, if you could tell me more about the circumstances under which you found Shinichi."

"Shinichi…" Mizumi murmured quietly to herself, testing the name. Then she nodded and gestured both youths towards the kitchen. "Come have a seat. I'll make some tea."

"I can do that," Shinichi offered, but the woman waved him away.

"No, no, sit with your friend. This will only take a minute."

A few minutes later the three of them were seated at the Kitas' kitchen table. Mizumi poured them each a steaming cup of tea. As she placed Shinichi's cup before him, she noticed that there was a white rose lying on the table by his hand. Strange. It didn't look like one of hers. Besides, Kochiro (or rather Shinichi, she reminded herself. That would take a little getting used to, though she was glad to finally know the boy's real name) wouldn't have picked it. Someone must have given it to him. The fact that it had been shorn of thorns only added to her certainty. Her gaze slid to the newcomer, wondering if it had been him.

He had a very nice smile, she mused. Bright and open with a touch of mischief. But there was a hint of darkness in there too lurking just behind his eyes, like he had seen many things and knew many secrets—like he'd walked with danger and knew all too well how to deal with it. He had the eyes of one who hunted shadows in the dark, though he hid it well behind the façade of careless cheer. It didn't, however, strike her as a malicious deception. There was real warmth in that smile and honest care for the friend he had come all this way to find.

"So you wished to know how we found Ko—Shinichi?" she inquired, pouring her own cup of tea before setting the teapot on its tray.

Kaito nodded. "I was hoping to get a better picture of what happened."

"I understand. Although I'm afraid we don't know very much either." Mizumi paused to take a sip of her tea as her gaze grew distant. "My brother had a premonition that morning. He told me we had to take a walk by the river."

"Premonition?" Shinichi repeated, surprised. This was the first he'd heard of such a thing.

The woman smiled faintly as she nodded. "Yes. I suppose it sounds strange to you, but here we have always believed that the spirits watch over us. My brother is one of many who have been able to communicate with them."

"You mean he can talk to spirits?" Kaito asked, one eyebrow rising. He liked to think of himself as an open-minded person, but being a master of manipulating reality to make others believe in the impossible taught you that many of the most inexplicable things had very simple explanations. Years of acquaintanceship with multiple detectives didn't do anything to contradict that notion.

"Talk is perhaps not the best word, but in a sense, yes." She laughed at the expressions on their faces. "You can choose to believe it or not, but they have always guided us well. In any case, if it weren't for my brother's insistence, we would not have gone down to that particular stretch of the river bank when we did, and then it may have been a long time before anyone found Shinichi here."

Well, neither teen was going to argue with that. As far as Kaito was concerned, it didn't matter why the Kita siblings had been down at that part of the river at that time, all that mattered was that they had been. "Did you see anyone else there? Or hear anything?"

Mizumi considered the question for several minutes before she shook her head. "I didn't see anyone, and the sound of the river would have eclipsed most sounds. There were a few pieces of old planking that washed up on shore as well though. I thought they might have been from that old bridge up river that no one uses anymore."

"We saw that bridge," the magician recalled. So they had probably been right when they'd guessed Shinichi had fallen with it. While all this was interesting, it didn't tell him what he really wanted to know—who had been responsible and whether or not he, she, or they were still around. It was a little frustrating at times how good his detective was at making enemies, but he supposed that was just what happened when you dedicated your life to putting killers in jail (they generally didn't appreciate it, and, well, they were already people who'd made the decision that killing was a viable option when it came to people they didn't like. Okay, Kaito would admit that he had quite a few enemies too, but that was precisely why he knew how dangerous it could be. And, unlike a thief, being a detective meant people had to be able to contact you when they needed help and therefore everyone knew where you lived or could find out with very little difficulty). "By the way, have you had any other visitors since you found Shinichi?"

"None other than yourselves. It is quite unusual for us to have any visitors at all actually," Mizumi mused. "It is quite extraordinary that we have had so many in such a short span of time. This isn't an easy place to find. Would you like more tea?"

"Ah, thank you."

Shinichi listened to the other two talk as he nursed his own tea. Questions were whirling through his head—there were so many things he wanted to know and he finally had someone to ask—but he didn't know where to begin. He couldn't help but notice from the magician's line of questioning that Kaito seemed to think there should be someone else around. Someone responsible for Shinichi's own fall into the river maybe? Or could it be someone he'd been traveling with? No, the first option sounded more viable. If it had been a simple companion, Kaito would have asked him first and his questions now wouldn't be so circular. Did this mean he was in some kind of trouble? That was a bit of a disconcerting thought.

Blue eyes wandered back to Kaito. Ever since he'd met the magician, he'd felt a strange mix of relief and happiness. At the same time though, it made him feel a bit depressed. This person was important to him but he couldn't remember why or how. He'd kind of hoped that everything would just click back into place if he could just grasp on to a few solid pieces like his name.

It was disheartening to realize that it wasn't going to be that simple.

"Shinichi?"

Coming out of his thoughts at the sound of his name, he looked up to find that Kaito had already gotten to his feet. "Yes?"

"Would you like to meet the others? I think it's about time we let them know you're here."

"Oh, right." He'd completely forgotten that Kaito had mentioned that he hadn't come alone. Setting his cup down, he hurried to his feet then hesitated, turning to Mizumi. "Um, I…" He faltered, uncertain. He wanted to thank her for everything, but a simple "thank you" felt inadequate. He had known from the beginning that he wouldn't be staying here, even if he had occasionally entertained the idea, but until today it had felt like something he wouldn't have to really think about for a while yet. Now though…

The soft smile on Mizumi's face suggested to him that she could guess his thoughts even without his saying a word. "Go on," she said encouragingly. "But don't forget to come back and say goodbye before you go. If you need to, you and your friends are welcome to stay the night here."

X

Ran, Hattori, Hakuba, and Makoto Seiji were seated around the large table in what served as the village's meeting hall with an elderly man Kaito assumed was the village head. All five of them looked around as he stepped in through the open doorway.

"Look who I found wandering around the village," he announced as he did so, pulling Shinichi into the room. Gently propelling the detective in front of him, he set both hands on Shinichi's shoulders and looked at the shocked faces scattered about the room.

"Shinichi!" Ran exclaimed, relief flooding across her face.

"Kudo!" Hattori gasped at exactly the same moment, echoed much more quietly by Hakuba. "Don't tell me you've been here this whole time!"

Shinichi blinked back at them, at a bit of a loss for words. He had the feeling that he was supposed to know these people—they obviously knew him, but that was about as far as his current knowledge went. Kaito had been telling him about these people on their way here from the Kitas' house so he had a pretty good idea of their names. The magician was great at describing people—he knew everything from little mannerisms most people wouldn't even notice to hobbies, skills, interests, and more. He had even given Shinichi a sample of each of their voices and speech patterns by mimicking them with what Shinichi now knew was perfect accuracy, and he knew so much biographical information about them all that it bordered on creepy. But that was a peculiarity to ponder at a different time. From the way the pseudo strangers were looking at him though, they were probably expecting some kind of explanation. Unfortunately, he couldn't really give them that. As the seconds ticked by, he could see the confusion in their faces growing.

"Let me explain," said Kaito, squeezing Shinichi's shoulders reassuringly as he steered the smaller teen to an open seat at the table before sitting down in the seat right beside him.

It took rather a lot longer to explain the situation than Shinichi had originally thought it would. Mostly, it was because the one called Hattori kept interrupting with exclamations of "What?!", at which point the blond one would berate him for interrupting or make a comment about his hearing or understanding of the human language, and then the two would start to bicker like an old married couple. It was actually quite funny until it got annoying.

"Why do they do that?" he whispered to Kaito as another argument started up and Ran tried to intervene.

The magician shrugged. "Not sure. I've never seen them in the same place before. If I'd known it was going to be like this, I would've brought a video camera. And some popcorn," he added as an afterthought. Seeing the incredulous look on his detective's face, he smirked. "Hey, it's free entertainment."

"You're weird," Shinichi informed him, sounding an odd cross between perplexed and prim.

"So I've been told," Kaito replied cheerfully. "Judging from the looks of the sky outside, I'd say we're probably going to have to take Mizumi-san up on her offer."

Shinichi nodded. "It wouldn't be safe to try and traverse the mountains in the dark. I'm not sure there's enough room at the Kitas' for four more though."

That was fine by Kaito, though he didn't say it out loud. It would give him some time with Shinichi without interference from the others. "Well, there seems to be some room here. We can ask the headman about it."

"That's true." The detective brightened, problem solved. "He'll say yes. Everyone here is very kind."

There was something in the way he said those words that gave Kaito a moment's pause. But Ran chose that moment to slam her hands down on the table and he shelved the thought for later as he turned back to the scene across the table where both Hattori and Hakuba were cowering under the girl's irritated glare.

"You're acting like children!" she scolded. "You're both good detectives. You should know that. What does it matter whose methods are better?!"

The detectives in question seemed to be too afraid to answer. Both their eyes were glued to the thin crack that had appeared in the table when Ran had brought her hands down. In the ensuing silence, Kaito whistled.

TBC

A.N: I'm going to be gone for a few weeks, so I decided to try and get this chapter up before I left. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you all when I get back! ^_^