Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

10: Castles on the Shore

Kaito didn't mention anything about Shinichi's freak-out of the night on the following morning, and the detective himself was more than happy to let it lie. Despite that, it was still very much on both their minds as they made their way to the animal talent show.

Shinichi still felt a little guilty for having caused Kaito so much trouble even if the magician said he didn't mind. Not only had he had his sleep interrupted, but he had also ended up spending quite some time keeping Shinichi company when he really didn't have to. Shinichi was deeply grateful, but he still kind of wished the whole thing hadn't happened. Looking back now, he was a little surprised at just how much he had wished he could find the words to explain the things troubling him to the magician. Maybe he had simply been keeping everything bottled up for far too long. And yet…he had the strangest feelings at times, like he hadn't just met Kaito recently… It was that same feeling that told him he could trust the magician.

Then there had been that moment in the dark when he'd mistaken Kaito for KID…

Shinichi glanced up at the teen magician walking beside him then looked away again quickly. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to continue down that line of thought. Not right now. Oh why couldn't his life ever be simple?

Kaito was well aware of his roommate's furtive glances, but he chose not to comment. Shinichi had been staring at his face all morning like someone trying to remember where he'd seen something before. He had a good idea what the detective was thinking about. That moment from the night before when Shinichi, caught up in whatever terrors had haunted his dreams, had called him KID was still quite clear in his mind. He had been a bit surprised when it had happened, but mostly because he hadn't had many dealings with Shinichi as KID. Even if the boy thought they shared similarities, he would have expected Shinichi to think "Kaito" first and "KID" second. Perhaps it had been the atmosphere. Shinichi's last encounter with KID had been in a stressful moment after nightfall as well. The combination of the two could have colored his recollections. Whatever the reason though, it appeared that somewhere in Shinichi's head there was a connection between Kuroba Kaito and Kaitou KID.

If he had to point fingers, Kaito would definitely point them at Hakuba first, but that was beside the point (though revenge was going to be sweet).

He had examined the situation carefully and decided that—for the time being—it was nothing to concern himself over. Even if he started to suspect, Shinichi had no actual proof against him. Furthermore, the detective had shown little to no interest in putting KID in jail. That didn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't say something if he did see proof, but Kaito had had years of practice hiding things from the people around him—people who included Hakuba, the detective who felt the need to record milliseconds. Unless Shinichi had a sudden change of heart and started adopting Hakuba's methods, Kaito only had to be careful (which he always was anyway. Carelessness was one thing neither magicians nor thieves could afford. Not good ones anyway). In the meantime, he already had a few dozen different plans ready to deal with potential discoveries of varying degrees. He just needed to adjust a few things to account for the presence of an extra detective. It paid to be prepared.

The talent contest was being held in a local park. A long line of contestants could be seen snaking out through the park gate and along the sidewalk outside. At the end of the line stood the registration desk. Those who were there only to watch and not participate either presented or bought tickets from the makeshift booth set up just outside the gate. A temporary stage had been constructed on the park's lone basketball court, and long benches had been set up on the lawn around it for spectators. A crew of volunteers was working on hooking up some microphones. Music blared from a set of speakers by the stage.

Not wanting to damage their eardrums too badly, the two teens chose seats on the opposite end of the spectator benches.

They had only been seated for a minute when a woman carrying a rather large bag paused beside them.

"Are you two saving these seats or can I take one?"

"Go right ahead," Kaito said, offering the woman a charming smile as he gestured at the empty seat beside him. "We're not waiting for anyone."

"Thanks. I promised my sister I'd try to get a seat near the front so she can see me when it's her turn. Moral support and all that." She took the proffered seat and set her massive purse on her lap. "She's been jumpy all week thinking about this contest. But since half of last time's winners can't attend, I think her chances of winning something are pretty good."

"Half of them can't attend?" Shinichi repeated, brows furrowing. "Why not?"

The woman glanced around then lowered her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "They all went missing, that's what. Or, well, to be totally accurate, one of them was run over, but the rest just disappeared. It's sad really, but I guess this sort of thing happens. I've written so many missing pet stories over the last few months it's scary!"

"I take it that you're a journalist then?" asked Kaito.

"Yep. I mostly work freelance, but I also run a blog for local tidbits." She rummaged quickly through her purse and came up with a pair of business cards. "If you ever hear or see anything interesting, I'd love to hear about it."

Kaito accepted the cards and passed one to Shinichi. The name on the card read Ueno Misaki. "Thanks. We'll keep that in mind. Although we don't actually live around here. We're visiting."

"Ah, I see. Well, that's all right. I just like to put the word out there in case anyone does have something they want to say."

"Understandable."

"Excuse me," Shinichi said, leaning forward a little to look around Kaito at the journalist. "But I was wondering, were you here at the last talent show?"

"I sure was. No one knew what to expect that time, but it turned out to be a huge success. I never knew there were so many amazing pets right here in the neighborhood! I have the photos right here if you want to see them." Whipping out her phone, she angled it so that both teens could see and began scrolling through a series of photographs dated six months back. "This little terrier was one of my favorite. See that ball he's standing on? Well, he actually managed to make a whole circuit of the stage on it! Then there was this cockatiel. It sang three different orchestral concertos all by itself. I mean, I knew some birds could imitate sounds and speech, but I didn't know they could do that. This Siamese cat got voted the most elegant. I'm sure you can see why. And of course there was this chocolate lab who could play Ticktacktoe. They let five different volunteers go up from the audience to play against her. She actually won two games, though she tied or lost the rest."

"I'd say it's interesting enough that she could play at all," Shinichi mused.

"Yeah, that's true, but the games gave me more to write about and my readers more to read. It produced my favorite article for the event. Oh, and this is the man who's running this whole thing. His name is Hiburi Osen. He actually works at a local accounting firm, but he decided to start this animal rescue service too. Pretty admirable idea. I'm sure you'll see him later. He's the one who's going to announce the contest judges' decisions and present the winners with their prizes. Oh, and here's a picture of my sister. She made a lot of mistakes that time, and I think the dog had stage fright, but she had fun. You know, I actually considered participating too, but I only have a goldfish. I've always been more of the spectator sort anyway. I get terribly nervous if I have to talk with a lot of people looking at me."

"Really?" Kaito blinked.

Ueno paused then laughed. "Oh, well, I guess that probably sounds strange huh? I know I talk a lot—always have. It's just something about being in front of crowds, I guess. Back in school, whenever I had to present something, I'd go up there then come down and not remember a single word I'd said unless it was something I shouldn't have let slip but did. Then I'd spend the whole rest of the day worrying about it. Dreadful thing, public speaking. My sister thinks it's weird that I'm a journalist because of it, but I keep telling her that giving speeches isn't part of the job. And I can talk to people just fine. It's crowds that are the problem."

"Well, I did hear quite a few people out there fear public speaking more than death. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

The woman beamed "You know, I've heard that too. I always wondered if it was true."

"Excuse me, Ueno-san," Shinichi said, leaning around Kaito again with the journalist's phone still on a photo of a husky balancing a ball on its nose. "You mentioned that you wrote about the missing pets, right? Would you happen to have their pictures as well?"

"Oh, of course I do. Let me find them for you. And you can call me Misaki. I have four siblings, so Ueno-san makes me feel weird. Here."

"Thank you."

Taking the phone again, Shinichi continued on his forensic exploration of the photographs of furry, animal faces.

"They should be starting soon," Misaki continued, turning towards the stage and craning her neck for a better look at the crew finishing the sound checks.

Kaito let his mouth continue the conversation while his own mind focused on the detective seated beside him. It was the look on Shinichi's face. He had seen that look that night not all that long ago when Shinichi had run off blindly after that armed robber. He'd seen it again two days ago on the bus when the detective was engrossed in his novel. It was a look of intense concentration laced through with mixed curiosity and determination. It was the look that said the puzzle had been found. It was still in pieces, as was to be expected from puzzles, but the pieces were all there and the ones that weren't had left their shapes conspicuously missing.

And suddenly Kaito knew exactly where he had seen that expression before—why it looked so familiar. It was the expression Tantei-kun wore whenever he had just uncovered some vital piece of evidence and was bent on finding out where it would lead no matter what. To follow it to the ends of the earth if need be, because the answers were crying out to him.

Maybe it was a detective thing, but seeing that look on Shinichi's face felt almost eerie. It made him look exactly like Tantei-kun. Older, obviously, and without those big glasses, but everything else just felt the same.

Kaito had heard that they were somehow distantly related, but the similarity was uncanny even for relatives. Perhaps they were more closely related than they'd led people to believe? It was the most logical assumption, but his instincts were saying that it wasn't right either.

His instincts were rarely wrong.

"Don't you think it's strange?" the detective he'd been thinking about asked suddenly.

Misaki broke out of her detailed introduction of the many pets now being called to their positions to give Shinichi a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I've double checked all of these in the pictures you have, and every single one of the missing pets participated in the previous show. They didn't all win, but they were still all there."

The journalist blinked at him then retrieved her phone to scroll through the relevant pictures for herself. "I didn't notice it before, but now that you mention it… That certainly is an odd coincidence."

Kaito snorted. "Yeah right. There's no way they're all coincidences."

"But then you're suggesting that someone decided to kidnap pets who participated in the show?" Misaki's incredulous tone spoke volumes. Why?"

"Is there anyone who participated in the last event who might have held a grudge for not winning?" Shinichi asked. "A lot of the missing pets were winners of different categories."

The journalist frowned. "I…don't remember thinking anyone would be such a bad sport. But I suppose there were some people who might not have thought the judgments were fair. Either way though, this is just a charity show. I can't imagine getting upset enough over the results to go so far as taking away other people's pets. Even if they did, where would they keep them?"

"You know, a lot of those animals look purebred," Kaito noted, slinging an arm over Shinichi's shoulders and leaning down to look at the photos still being marched across the screen. "Could fetch a good price if a thief had a way to sell them without attracting unwanted attention. Preferably one that would give a good excuse for having no paperwork."

Shinichi stared at him for a moment before speaking slowly, sounding more like he was talking to himself than to the magician. "Like an animal rescue service…"

Kaito shrugged. "It would work. Make up a story about the animal's history—owner was in an accident and it needs a new home or something of the sort. It's not uncommon to charge for adopting pets in order to support a shelter."

"If only we could get a look in the service's office."

"I can show you where it is," Misaki offered, drawing both teens' attention. "I don't know if I believe Hiburi-san would do what you're suggesting, but it's certainly worth a look. The event is scheduled to go from now until two in the afternoon. That gives us almost five hours during which we know that the animal rescue service's office is going to be empty. I do have to be here for my sister's show, but she's scheduled to be on at the end of the first block of presenters. Then there's going to be a fifteen minute intermission for food and mingling. If you two don't mind the wait, we could leave then. Slip out while everyone's moving, getting food, so on and so forth."

"Sounds good to me," Kaito agreed. "Chaos is the best cover anyone can have. Shinichi?"

The detective nodded, gaze dropping back to the photos.

X

Shinichi's first thought when he laid eyes on the animal rescue service office was that it did not look like a suitable place to keep animals. He said as much, to which Misaki replied that she didn't know if the rescue service actually kept many animals or simply placed them. Kaito's first thoughts were that it had only two doors, six small, high windows that were more like slits in the walls than windows, and a decorative bed of gravel all around it that would make it harder for people to approach it unheard—unless, of course, they noticed the tree by the back door that would allow an athletic person with decent climbing skills to bypass the gravel and land on the back step undetected. The windows were too high for anyone inside to see someone coming that way, and the position of the back door in relation to the neighboring buildings rendered the risk of a neighbor giving the intruder away pretty unlikely as well. Kaito kept these thoughts to himself.

They had knocked on the front door and received no response. Somewhat reassured that the place was empty, they had circled to the back where Misaki tried the door.

"It's locked."

"Move over." Kaito stepped forward. His companions couldn't see what he was doing as he was blocking the door handle from view, but a few moments later the door opened with a faint creak. Grinning, he held the door open and swept a hand towards the hall beyond. "After you."

It was just a little bit creepy, Shinichi thought as they made their way through the darkened building, how he could only hear two sets of footsteps—his own and Misaki's. Kaito's steps were completely silent like the steps of a ghost. And once again his thoughts flickered to a certain phantom thief. Kaito had opened that door with astonishing ease. Although maybe that wasn't all that surprising considering the magician regularly broke into their school building to set up insanely complicated pranks and booby-traps. But that was a bit like KID too, wasn't it?

He shook the thought away to focus on examining the building they had just entered. It wasn't a big building. A short hall with a collection of small rooms about summed up the place. The first room they entered was piled with empty carrier crates, boxes, wire bird and hamster cages, and other similar objects. The air was a bit musty and thick with dust.

The second room was larger and had no windows, small or otherwise. The waft of warm, musky air that greeted them when the door opened made all three of their noses wrinkle in distaste. With it came the faint sound of movement. Running a hand along the wall until he found a light switch, Shinichi flicked it on. The lights overhead buzzed and came to life. Something whimpered.

In the sudden, stark glow, the three trespassers found themselves faced with a wall of what looked like large cubbies with mesh doors. And from behind those mesh doors, eyes peered out at them. There were only three animals in the cages, which Shinichi was grateful for. Each animal had been stuffed into a space that was clearly too small to be comfortable. The two dogs had muzzles on so tight they couldn't open their mouths at all.

And one of those dogs was a husky that Shinichi recognized from a poster he'd seen just yesterday being put up at the ice cream parlor.

Misaki had taken her phone out and was taking pictures. The teens left her to it, knowing that the record was necessary.

The last room was the office. There wasn't much in it. A few files and notebooks relating to the promotional talent show lay scattered like leaves torn from a tree in autumn. There were also files in a heavy cabinet cataloging the various pets from the last show. Nothing overtly incriminating, but taken with the animals in their room they took on a more sinister air. The computer was the only other thing they found. Shinichi debated with himself for only a minute before turning on the power.

"Oh look, this must be their website," Kaito said as the screen blinked on to show a webpage talking about helping rescued pets find new homes who wanted them. The service asked interested families to provide information about what kind of pet they would like and the service would respond when a suitable candidate was found.

Commandeering the keyboard, Kaito drummed away on the keys. "Oh hey, look here. This family's looking for a husky. They don't care how old it is. And Hiburi-san's already sent them the okay. I'll bet that's where little Kohana was going to be shipped off to."

Shinichi nodded, scowling. "He's been stealing people's pets and selling them, pretending to be this animal rescue service. He uses the talent show to gather their information. Their breed, habits, where they live, how old they are—he can get it all without coming across as suspicious. What kind of creep puts together plans like this just to get some extra cash?"

"The Hiburi Osen kind of creep, obviously," Kaito drawled. There was a hard glint in his eyes though his tone was light as ever. "So what now, Tantei-kun?"

Shinichi started in shock before hurriedly recollecting his wits. He was a detective after all. The nickname really wasn't all that unique. It was just a title referring to his profession of choice. Besides, even if Kaito was KID, he had no reason to address Shinichi by the name he used for Conan. He felt that familiar pang of sadness for something lost.

"Shinichi?"

Coming back to the moment, Shinichi blinked. "Oh, right. Now we call the police."

Kaito raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

Forty five minutes later, the two teens and the journalist stood out on the gravel while nearby the three pets who'd been released from their cages were reunited with their excited owners. The police were still examining the office, combing both carbon and digital files to figure out where the other stolen pets had gone. Other officers had been dispatched to the show, though they had elected to let the performances finish first. No point in ruining an otherwise pleasant event for all those people, they'd reasoned. They could deal with Hiburi quietly after the show was over.

"That certainly wasn't what I expected to happen today. But I have to thank you guys for getting me this story," Misaki said with a wink. "By the way, I never got your full names."

"Kuroba Kaito," Kaito said immediately, sweeping into a deep bow under a sudden shower of confetti from nowhere. When he straightened, he had a yellow rose in his hand which he offered to Misaki with a grin. "Soon to be the best magician in the world!"

The woman laughed and accepted the rose. "I look forward to hearing about it then. And what about you?" She turned her attention to Shinichi.

"Kudo Shinichi," the detective replied.

"Kudo, huh?" Misaki looked thoughtful. "You're not a detective by any chance, are you?"

Shinichi nodded shortly, growing uncomfortable under the woman's curious gaze. Expecting awkward questions, he was startled when Kaito let out an exclamation.

"I almost forgot, we have to meet the rest of our class! Sorry Misaki-san, but we have to get going. It was nice meeting you."

That said, he flashed her an apologetic smile, grabbed Shinichi by the arm, and proceeded to drag him away.

They were well out of sight before Kaito slowed his steps and released his iron grip on the confused detective.

"Kaito," Shinichi said after they'd walked a little farther in silence.

"Yes?"

"I…thought we didn't have to meet the others for another two hours at the earliest. For the seaside barbeque in the evening."

"That's right."

"So then why…?

Kaito waved his inquiry away with a careless hand. "They didn't really need us there anymore."

Which, Shinichi reflected, wasn't an answer at all. But Kaito said it like it was, and it was clear that that was going to be the end of that as far as answers went. The detective searched the taller teen's face, but the magician's expression was about as telling as ever, which was to say not at all. Strange that. On the surface, Kaito appeared to be an open person, but Shinichi was beginning to understand that surface was all it was.

But even though he couldn't read the magician's thoughts at all, Shinichi had the impression that Kaito had dragged them away so quickly to help him.

X

The mouth-watering sizzle of barbeque grills filled the air, making several stomachs rumble. The sound was, however, drowned out by the constant crashing of the waves over the sandy shore (saving the owners of said stomachs from a minor helping of embarrassment). The students of Ekoda High had spread themselves across the beach. Volunteers were manning the grills and serving platefuls of barbeque and salad to their fellow students. Someone had organized a miniature volleyball tournament. Others had changed into bathing suits and were splashing through the shallows either swimming or brandishing water guns.

"So what have you two been up to?" Aoko asked as she joined Kaito and Shinichi where they were sitting with food-laden plates.

"This and that," Kaito replied with a shrug and a grin. "We went on a couple trails, joined a tour or two, visited the shops, ate great food, saw a show—oh, and caught a pet-napper. Turns out those missing pets weren't eaten by a monster after all."

The girl stared at him then at Shinichi and back again. "But we've only been here for two days! One and a half discounting this barbeque."

"It's called good time management," the magician said sagely.

"And getting up at unholy hours," Shinichi muttered under his breath, but Kaito noted that the detective didn't sound annoyed this time.

Aoko turned to Shinichi with a rather motherly look of concern. "He hasn't been forcing you to do anything weird, has he? If he has, just tell me, and I'll make sure he doesn't bother you anymore."

The detective blinked.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Jeez Aoko, you make me sound like some kind of evil criminal!" He put on a mournful face. "Is that really how you think of me?"

The girl blushed but stood her ground. "That's not what I meant. It's just that your idea of fun isn't really normal, and I know you never bother to ask people for their opinions before you make your plans."

"Of course I don't. It would defeat the point! It's a pretty lame show when the audience knows exactly what's going to happen next at every step."

"Or a good show because that means they liked it enough to watch it over and over again," Aoko countered.

The magician shrugged. "That's a different scenario entirely. Speaking of entertainment, would you like to team up with me for the next round of the volleyball tournament?"

The girl shook her head at her old friend's expectant look. "Sorry. I'm competing with Saguru. We've already signed up."

"What? Hakuba plays volleyball? You're kidding, right?"

The inspector's daughter looked confused. "No, why would I be?"

The magician shook his head in pity. "Well, at least it'll probably be a good show."

Now Aoko glared at him, drawing herself up. "Hey, don't make it sound like we're going to lose when we haven't even started yet! You just watch. We're going to win."

"Whatever you say. Just don't come running to me when you're losing."

"I won't because we won't lose. So there." Declaration made, Aoko stood, dusted sand off of her skirt, and headed to where Hakuba had been seated closer to the water's edge. She sat down beside the blonde, who turned to greet her with a smile. From this far away, their words were lost to the wind, but Shinichi guessed from her gesticulations that Aoko was telling Hakuba about how they were going to win the volleyball tournament.

"They're looking chummy, aren't they?" the magician observed. Scrunching his paper plate and disposable utensils up into a ball, Kaito lobbed the lot into the nearest trashcan and stood to go wandering away down the beach in the opposite direction from their classmates. Shinichi glanced from him to the couple down by the water and back again. Then he got up and followed the magician.

The sounds of merriment faded behind them as they walked farther and farther down the beach. Soon they could barely hear their classmates at all. That was when Kaito stopped and turned to face the sea, watching the way the gentle swells of the tide swept the sand smooth with each retreat. Shinichi halted a few steps away, biting at his lower lip.

"Are you…okay?"

Kaito couldn't help but smile at the detective's tentative inquiry and anxious eyes. "What, with them? Nah, don't worry about it. It used to bother me, but, well, things change." He fell silent, eyes fixed on the flat line of the horizon where the sky met the sea. "It's not like I didn't see it coming. We haven't been as close as we used to be for a while now. We've all chosen our paths. I have no regrets."

Shinichi shifted his weight on the sand, feeling the loose grains beginning to swallow his feet. He felt as though he'd missed a large part of the conversation, though what that part was he really didn't know. He knew even less why Kaito was telling him about it. But perhaps it was just one of those things that had to be said—not said to anyone exactly, just said so it would be out in the open.

"Come on, let's build a sand castle."

Shinichi blinked, thoughts derailed by the abrupt change in atmosphere. "What?"

The magician swept his arms out wide to either side like a ringmaster opening a grand new show and grinned. "Just look at this place. All this great shoreline with no one in sight but us. Looks like the perfect setting for a castle, doesn't it?"

"I…guess so."

"Then stop dawdling. We're going to make a masterpiece!"

Later, when the sun began to sink below the horizon, its fiery light gilded the turrets and battlements of a sand castle unlike any the shore had ever seen. It was like an image out of a fairytale, drenched in gold and ivory. Seated in the sand beside it with the waves tugging at their feet and cups of cranberry juice in their hands, the magician and the detective watched the sunset in companionable silence. Blue eyes wandered over the carefully crafted towers and the seashells that had been worked into the wet sand to add a little color to its otherwise monochrome edifice. A sense of wonder bubbled up inside Shinichi, knowing that he had helped create the awe-inspiring structure. Of course, tomorrow the tide would have eroded it into a featureless heap of wet sand, but it occurred to Shinichi that, in some ways, that only added to the castle's majesty.

"Things change," he murmured, echoing the magician's earlier words. For the first time in years though, those words didn't sound like a lament.

Kaito cast a glance at his smaller companion before turning back to the sea, a faint smile playing about his lips. There was just something about the tranquil expression on Shinichi's face that made Kaito himself feel at peace. It was a surprising but not unwelcome discovery. It was as they said. When some doors closed, others opened.

"You know," he remarked, breaking the silence as his smile widened into a mischievous smirk. "I'm going to need a new accomplice for my schemes. I think you'll do nicely."

TBC