Chapter Four

It took a while before Kaito settled down to explain the rules, thinking it more important to express a few "I knew it"s and "I told you so"s, much to Shinichi's annoyance.

What have I gotten myself into?

Eventually, Kaito stopped smirking and settled himself on a cracked, upturned urn in the corner. "Right then…rules. First, as you already know, you can summon me by discarding one of the rose's petals. I'll be able to stay out as long as needed unless you either dismiss me or I steal something for you. You'll be able to do this until all the petals have been used, at which point the rose and I will disappear."

"Disappear where to?" Shinichi asked, curious.

Kaito frowned. "I'm cursed and I'd rather not go into details, alright?" Before Shinichi had a chance to inquire more in-depth, he continued with the rules. "Next, I probably mentioned before that I can steal anything, but that's not entirely true. It has to exist and I have to know where to find it. Even though I can use magic, I'm not allowed to summon things out of mid-air for mortals. Anything belonging to the gods or other spirits, including objects or powers, are also off limits."

Shinichi was about to contradict the presence of the super-natural as usual, but then remembered what he was talking to and chose to keep his mouth shut.

"I also can't steal people's souls back from the dead, hearts for love, or their lives," the spirit continued, "The tools one might need to accomplish those tasks, however, are another story and as long as they fit the other requirements and you perform the task yourself, that's fine." He tapped a finger against his chin, obviously thinking. "I'm certain that's it. Anything else I'll just have to tell you later."

So it does seem he has limits even without me making them, Shinichi realized. Good…that means I won't have to specify details on some things. But I still want to test a few things before asking about my parents.

"Alright then, 'steal' me some breakfast," he requested. I'm currently positioned near a market place, but there's also plenty of wild produce nearby even though it's not as close.

Kaito smirked, "A test eh?" He had had to deal with people like this before and was able to now realize when someone was setting him up. "Just so you know, I do try to avoid stealing from others unless it benefits me to do so or I have no other choice. Thieves do happen to have honor and a sense of morals you know, even if we like to bend them sometimes." Once last smirk and he disappeared in one of his puffs of smoke.

Shinichi scowled at the showiness. Thieves have honor and a sense of morals? I'll believe it when I see it, and spirits don't' count because their perspectives on those matters have to be different than ours.

Kaito reappeared momentarily, holding a teapot and a small bag. "There. Peaches from the tree on the outskirts of this town and tea using hot spring water and the leaves of a tea plant a farmer had discarded." He noticed the questioning look Shinichi gave him. "Don't worry, the plant wasn't diseased or anything, and only old enough for the leaves to have dried."

"Alright. But if I hear anything about missing crops…" Shinichi warned. "Although, care to explain where the teapot and bag came from?"

"Nowhere. Conjured them up," the spirit replied casually as he dropped the bag before summoning up a teacup.

"I thought you said you couldn't summon things out of nothing for mortal use," Shinichi pointed out. See…already breaking the rules.

Kaito let go of the teapot and cup, leaving them floating in mid-air for Shinichi to help himself. Lifting a hand, he rubbed his chin, obviously thinking. "Guess I should have explained it a little differently," he decided, "If it's what you wanted me to get, I can't summon it out of nowhere. You wanted breakfast, not things to hold breakfast in, so it was perfectly alright to create them." He shrugged. "They'll disappear when you're done with them anyways." He jerked his head towards the floating tea and pointed at the bag of peaches. "Now you enjoy. I have to go back now, even though I'm sure you're dying for my company." He disappeared yet again and the rose glowed dimly for a moment.

"First I find out spirits exist, and then get stuck with a showoffy thief," Shinichi muttered, eyeing the still levitating tea. Sighing, he reached for it and the fruit. But, food sounds quite good right now…

Sure enough, the bag, teapot, and cup disappeared as soon as Shinichi was done with them, leaving the left over peach pits and tea dregs sitting in a pile on the floor.

"I'm sure it couldn't have taken that much extra effort to get rid of the leftovers, could it?" He asked the rose, not even sure if Kaito could hear him, as he gathered up the remains so he could discard them outside.

He was about to head back in to gather his things and move on when he heard a familiar voice calling to him. Turning, he discovered Heiji heading towards him. Between the expression on his face and the fact he had bothered to try and hunt down one person in a large town, Shinichi knew something important had happened, whether good or bad.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Heiji panted; obviously he'd been running all over the town since very early morning, "You're a hard person to track down, Kudo."

"Yes…that tends to be one of the traits of someone without a home," Shinichi replied flatly.

Heiji quickly apologized. "Sorry…wasn't thinking." He shook his head. "Anyways…news…" He took a breath to steady himself from the last lingering effects of all the early morning running. "The shogun's dead."

Shinichi blinked. "Dead?"

His friend nodded. "It happened last night. Seems to be natural causes."

"But who's going to take over? He never had a child and the emperor is too busy negotiating with the Western ambassadors to appoint someone new. The last thing our region needs is our neighbors fighting over the land."

Heiji shifted uncomfortably. "That's the problem. He didn't have a child, but do you remember the European woman he'd taken as a concubine several years ago?"

"Yes, but she died soon afterwards. What does she have to do with…" He trailed off as the wheels in his head began turning, and then it clicked. "You don't mean the daughter? It's impossible! She's not Japanese, she's not a blood relative, and she's a woman!"

"It's impossible unless the shogun has anything to say about it."

Stunned silence.

"So you're saying…"

"…that the lat shogun left a decree naming her as his heir?" Yes."

More silence.

"You realize this is not going to end well," Shinichi pointed out.

"Yes, but this might be the opportunity you were waiting for," Heiji told him, expression brightening slightly. "You know how the Europeans are less strict with traditions? That they keep telling us that their ways of running things are better than ours?"

Shinichi blinked, unsure of what his friend was getting at. "And?"

"And with her relaxed views, she might be willing to have your home returned to you!"

Shinichi turned this thought over in his mind. He's right…what with their different view on things…and if I can get my family's land back…probably safer than being in the streets with the chaos that's guaranteed to rise up soon… "Best of all, I won't have to rely on that blasted spirit's help," he muttered happily.

"What?"

"Eh? Oh, nothing."