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Sky Colored Eyes

4: Deer Trails

"Tou-san, I'm making breakfast! Did you want some?" Aoko called as she made her way towards the kitchen. When there was no answer, she frowned. Stepping over the threshold of the kitchen doorway, her gaze went immediately to the newspaper on the table beside an empty mug and plate. There were still a few breadcrumbs lingering on the bamboo-patterned plate.

The girl's breath left her in an irritated puff as her good mood took a turn for the sour. Of course he'd already gone. A new KID heist notice had been delivered to the police just the other day after all. She should have remembered.

Stalking to the dining table, she picked up the plate and mug and took them to the sink. Of course he'd forgotten to wash them up. It was like this every time a new notice came in. Every single time.

"Stupid," she muttered, setting about making her own breakfast. It wasn't that she couldn't understand her father's determination not to let a criminal he'd been battling for two decades get away, but still… Did he really have to forget about everything else whenever heists came around just like that? Like nothing else was or could be as important.

Like Aoko wasn't as important.

She shook her head. Now she knew she was being unfair. He didn't mean to forget things like promises to have family dinners and such—he was always sorry when he remembered. It was just that her father had a tendency to get carried away whenever KID was involved. He was just dedicated like that, and deep down she really did admire him for that. Not just anyone could get up and keep trying after so many (often humiliating) defeats. She was proud that her father was one of those who could. It was just that sometimes she thought…well, it would be nice if—just once—he would put aside one of those infuriating notes or skip a heist to spend time with her.

Rinsing off her own plate and placing it into the rack to dry, she went to collect her school bag and head out. By the time she stepped out the door, she had managed to bring a smile back to her face.

She was not going to let KID of all people ruin a perfectly good day. So she probably wouldn't see her father much if at all for the next few days (possibly weeks). It wasn't like she was a little kid anymore. She was in her last year of high school and headed for college. She could take care of herself.

And when this heist was over, she was going to insist that he take her to that restaurant she'd been seeing on TV, and she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Whoa, looking a bit warlike there. Do I need to hurry ahead and warn our dear classmates?"

Her smile grew more genuine as she turned to see Kaito jogging up to her. "No need. I was just thinking about where I wanted to have dinner next time Tou-san and I go out."

"So it's your dad I should be warning?"

She rolled her eyes and smacked her friend on the shoulder. "No, Bakaito, you don't have to warn anyone."

"That's good to know."

Aoko snorted, but soon she was laughing. And she realized that somewhere between Kaito's appearance and now the last vestiges of her bad mood had dissolved into nothingness.

Kaito grinned, satisfied. When he'd first laid eyes on Aoko that morning, he'd known at once that she was upset despite her determined efforts to put it out of her mind. Now, however, the tension had eased from her neck and shoulders and the smile on her face softened from the forced brittleness of minutes past.

"Hey, isn't that Kudo-kun?" Aoko said suddenly, pointing to the street corner ahead of them. "I didn't realize he lived near here."

"Let's go say hello then!"

The two caught up to the detective just as the walk light blinked on. Kaito noted that, once again, Shinichi was walking with a thermos. His sapphire eyes were fixed straight ahead and still faintly glazed like he wasn't entirely awake yet. He didn't seem to notice either that he had acquired company.

Kaito clapped a hand over Aoko's mouth when she started to greet the detective. She gave him a confused look over his hand but he only smirked and winked. "What do you think is in that thermos?"

The girl's puzzled look didn't fade as he released her. "I don't know. Why don't you just ask? And why are we just following him? It's rude not to say hello when you see someone you know."

"Asking's no fun. Watch this." Picking up his pace, Kaito drew up beside the detective, employing all his skills in not being noticed. Then, quick as a flash, he reached out and slipped the thermos from Shinichi's hands before darting back to Aoko.

For a moment Shinichi continued walking with his hands still up as though holding onto an invisible thermos. Kaito bit back a laugh. Beside him, Aoko looked torn between giggling and scolding her friend. Then the detective stopped in his tracks and looked around. From the way his gaze swept the ground first, it was clear he thought he'd dropped his thermos. But then he spotted the two pairs of feet not far behind him.

Blue eyes zeroed in on the thermos Kaito was holding and he frowned, though he looked more confused than angry. "Kuroba-san?"

"I told you to call me Kaito," the magician admonished. "So what's in here anyway? I see you with one every morning." Not waiting for an answer, he lifted the thermos and took a swig of the drink inside. He'd been expecting coffee because of the smell, but what he had not expected was just how dark the coffee in question was. He gagged and spat out the mouthful. "Ack! And you drink this every morning? What's wrong with your taste buds? Or have you killed them all off already?"

Now wide awake and annoyed, Shinichi snatched his thermos from the thief and clutched it to him like a mother clutching her child to protect it from harm. "What do you mean what's the matter with me? What's the matter with you?"

Aoko butted in before Kaito could speak with an apologetic smile before she elbowed the magician in the ribs. "This idiot's always doing things like that. I'd recommend you pour that out and get a new cup though to be safe."

Kaito's jaw dropped. "Are you implying that I might have done something to his coffee?"

"No, I'm just warning him that you might have. I remember last time you volunteered to get everyone drinks for lunch, Saguru ended up hiccupping bubbles for a whole hour!"

"That was just once. And since when did you start calling Hakuba by name?"

"Well, I told him he should call me Aoko because hearing him say Nakamori-san makes me think he's talking about my dad. Then he said I should call him Saguru. Is it a problem?"

"Oh, no, no problem," the magician said sarcastically. "And I suppose he asked you out too."

"Huh? What! No, I mean… He didn't. He was just being nice." Aoko's voice faded out as her cheeks flushed. She wouldn't have minded if the blond detective really did ask her out (maybe secretly hoped that he would). "It's none of your business anyway," she added, feeling defensive though heaven only knew why.

"It is too my business. I'm your friend. I'm supposed to look out for you."

"Which has what to do exactly with whether or not Saguru asked me out?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No, it's not."

"Hakuba's a twit. I'd be failing in my duties as a friend if I didn't warn you against getting involved with a twit."

"He is not!" the inspector's daughter said hotly. "He certainly has much better manners than you do."

"What?! How can you even think that! I've never been so insulted in my life."

"Um…"

Two pairs of eyes turned to Shinichi, who flushed and shifted his weight uncomfortably. It was always awkward being around when other people were arguing. He coughed lightly. "We still have to get to class…?"

Aoko grabbed Kaito's hand and jerked it up so she could check his watch. "There're only five minutes left before class starts! We're never going to make it!"

X

"In case you're wondering, I really didn't put anything in your coffee today."

Shinichi blinked owlishly over the top of his notebook at the young man who had just commandeered the desk in front of his. "That's…good, I guess." What kind of person started conversations by saying things like that? Maybe it was just Shinichi, but it made the guy come across a bit creepy—like walking up to someone and saying 'Hey, I decided not to shoot you today'—albeit not quite that bad. "You could have left out the 'today'."

The magician laughed. "So what're you working on there? Is it a case?" Leaning over, he peered at the neat lines of writing. Despite the fact that he was looking at them upside down, Shinichi had the distinct impression that Kaito was reading them. His suspicions were proven correct when the magician grinned. "Oh hey, that's KID's latest heist notice. I saw it in the paper. Have you solved it?"

"Not yet," Shinichi replied, rereading the lines. "I have the day, but I'm still working on the rest."

"I see." Indigo eyes sharpened. "Does that mean you're thinking of going?" As intently as he was watching the detective, he noticed the way the detective flinched at his question. Odd.

"I haven't decided yet," Shinichi said vaguely. "Probably not."

Kaito hid his surprise behind a single raised eyebrow. "But then why're you looking at the notice?"

"Hakuba-san gave it to me—"

"Ch. Of course. I should've known."

"—and I like riddles."

"Aren't you going to try to catch KID though? You know, being a detective and all."

Shinichi's gaze flicked up to meet his before darting away. If Kaito didn't know better, he would have said the detective looked embarrassed. But the expression was gone almost as quickly as it had come to be replaced by that same hint of melancholy that always seemed to be lingering in the depths of the detective's blue eyes.

"He's just a thief. I prefer to focus on solving homicide cases. Stopping killers is more important than stopping thieves."

Well, Kaito supposed that was hard to dispute. But he found he had mixed feelings about this new revelation. He agreed wholeheartedly that catching murderers was important, but he didn't particularly enjoy hearing KID referred to as 'just a thief'. Kaitou KID was his father's legacy—a legend woven by both his father and himself. Surely they deserved more recognition than 'just a thief'. Then there was the fact that he, the great Kuroba Kaito, was never just anything! How dare this detective just dismiss him like that?

But he digressed. Insult to his ego aside, he had the niggling feeling that the detective wasn't being entirely honest. Kaito had always been good at reading people. It was a skill he'd honed to a razor point over his years as both a performer and a thief, and it was telling him that Shinichi was hiding something. He wasn't lying, but there was more to it—something that troubled him.

And that really didn't make sense, considering Shinichi had only ever attended that one heist way back when.

Kaito was just considering what might be the best approach to digging for more information when Aoko appeared beside them. "So?" she asked, looking from him to the detective and back again with an expectant smile. "What'd he say?"

Oops, he'd forgotten entirely about the mission Aoko had assigned him hadn't he? "I haven't asked him yet."

Shinichi blinked. "Asked me what?"

Aoko sighed and rolled her eyes. "This baka was supposed to ask you if you wanted to join us after school. A group of us are going to have a study session at my house then go out for karaoke."

"I—can't really sing."

"It's just for fun. No one's expecting anyone to be amazing or anything," Aoko persisted. "It'll be a good chance for you to get to know some of the others."

"I'd just say yes if I were you," Kaito advised. "She's not going to let up until you do."

"You make me sound so bossy," the girl huffed, glaring at her friend.

"It's one of your most endearing qualities," the magician assured her with a winning smile of his own.

The girl only huffed. "Only you can insult someone and make it sound like a compliment. Anyway," she continued, turning back to Shinichi. "We're going straight after school, so don't leave without us, all right?" Instructions delivered, she didn't bother waiting for an answer before turning and making a beeline for Keiko, saying something about confirming who else would be going.

Shinichi watched her go with his mouth still slightly agape.

Kaito gave him a sympathetic look. "Yeah, she can be like that sometimes. I think she gets it from her dad."

"That would be Nakamori-keibu, right?"

"Yep. Cheer up. It's just karaoke. It's not like we're making you compete or anything."

The detective's breath left him in a resigned sigh. "But I really, really can't sing." Unfortunately for him, no one was listening anymore as Kaito vanished in a puff of smoke. A moment later it began to rain paper stars.

Brushing several stars off of his notebook, Shinichi was just settling back down to working on solving the heist notice when he was interrupted again. This time the interruption came in the form of a tap on his shoulder and an unfamiliar voice.

"Excuse me."

Suppressing the urge to sigh, Shinichi set his notebook down again and looked up. Beside his desk stood a rather tan young man with short, spiky hair and brown eyes. The corners of his mouth kept twitching out of their smile like it was taking him a tremendous effort to keep it there.

"You're Kudo Shinichi, right? The detective from Teitan?"

Mildly surprised by the reference to his old school, Shinichi nodded.

"My cousin goes there. She told me you were good at figuring out weird stuff."

"I guess that's one way to put it."

The boy glanced over his shoulder then lowered his voice. "It's about my little brother. He's been acting…odd. Can you help me?"

"I can try," Shinichi replied, that familiar curiosity beginning to burn. "When you say he's been acting odd, what do you mean?"

"It's—complicated. I don't know where to start."

"Then start at the beginning."

"Right. The beginning." Running a hand through his hair, the stranger glanced behind himself again. "My name is Chishima Sai. My brother, Jinta, is two years younger than me. He just started here at Ekoda. We, uh, aren't exactly close. We like really different things and we used to argue all the time. We don't anymore, but it might be because we don't spend much time together." Guilt twisted across Sai's face and he had to stop to regain control of his expression. "Sorry, sorry. It's just—"

The bell rang. He cursed. "Listen, Kudo-san, can I talk to you on Monday before classes? I'll wait for you by the gate. Please."

"I'll be there."

Relief flooded across Sai's face. "Thank you." That said, he dashed out the door to return to his own class.

X

Shinichi's thoughts lingered on the strange encounter with Chishima Sai throughout the rest of the day. He wondered why the guy had sought him out instead of Hakuba. The blonde had, after all, been at Ekoda much longer than Shinichi had. But perhaps it had to do with the cousin from Teitan he'd mentioned. Or maybe he had chosen Shinichi precisely because he was new to Ekoda? Someone who couldn't possibly have any presuppositions in regards to his fellow students. Still, the way Sai had been acting had been pretty odd as well. It wasn't your everyday kind of anxiety over a family member falling in with the wrong people or other such common concerns. He'd seemed almost scared. But of what?

The questions circled through his mind as the rest of him worked on autopilot. Slowly though, he found himself being drawn away from those familiar trails of thought by the buzz of activity around him. His fellow students talked and laughed as they worked on their homework and traded anecdotes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been a part of something like this. The cheery atmosphere washed over him in soft waves.

Then they were all packing up and he was being towed along to the karaoke place—a leaf on a tide of life. It was all so normal that it was bizarre. But in a good way. This wasn't his world, but maybe he would be allowed to enjoy it for at least a little while.

"Come on Kudo-kun! It's your turn."

"Er, no—no, really, I can just listen—"

"No way. Everybody's gotta sing at least once!"

"That's right!

"No exceptions!"

Surrendering to the inevitable, he set his coffee on one of the many low tables scattered through their room and dragged his feet to the microphone. A terrible three minutes later, he returned to his seat on the sofa to be joined by a laughing Kaito.

"Wow, you weren't kidding. You're awful!"

He snorted. "Gee, thanks. I needed you to tell me that."

"Aw come on, don't be like that. I didn't mean it in a bad way."

Shinichi shot the magician a confused look. "How can you mean something like that in a good way?"

Kaito paused for a moment, apparently giving the question some serious thought. "That's true. I guess what I meant was that I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Shinichi shrugged, slumping into the slightly too soft couch cushions. "Don't worry about it then. It's not like I didn't already know I can't sing. That girl over there is giving you a really strange look by the way."

Following the direction of Shinichi's gaze, Kaito grimaced inwardly. "Oh, that's Koizumi Akako. Have you met her yet? She's a witch."

"…You're joking right?"

"Nope. She tells fortunes and stuff—damn accurate, though it could be coincidence considering how vague she tends to be. Guess if you're vague enough, any prediction could be true. But she's done other things too…" He fell silent, expression pensive. Akako had said she wanted to speak with him. The prospect of another one-on-one chat with her now was about as thrilling as ever—which was to say not at all. Even so, his instincts were telling him that he shouldn't ignore her. Sighing, he stood. "I guess I'd better go talk to her. If anyone asks, tell them I'll be right back."

TBC