Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

24: Sai's Story

"It started when I ran into this man at the bus stop. We were both taking shelter there from the rain. I didn't take much notice of him at first, but I heard him talking to someone. I thought at first that he was on the phone, but he wasn't holding a cell. He didn't have any earphones on either. After a while, I just had to ask who he was talking to. That was when he told me that he was talking to his wife. I asked him where she was, and he told me she had passed away. By then I thought he had to be crazy. It must have shown on my face because he gave me this really knowing look and said, "You don't believe me" with this smile on his face. His expression kind of annoyed me, so I was like "Of course I don't. You can't talk to the dead". I didn't expect him to laugh…"

"Is that what you think?"

Sai stared at the man's gently smiling face. His own annoyance gave way to an uneasy confusion. "I don't think anything. Even idiots know that communicating with the dead is impossible."

"Everyone used to know that the world was flat too. But now everyone knows differently. Even truth can change over time."

"What're you getting at?"

"The realm of the spirits may not be as far out of reach as you think."

"So…what you're saying is that you can talk to people on the other side."

"Not me."

"But you just said you were talking to—"

"It is by another's good graces that I can speak with my dear Haruka again. I'm not the only one either."

"Yeah? Then how come I've never heard of this before? If it's real, everyone would be talking about it. I'd—" He cut himself off and turned away. "I would've heard about it."

"Is there someone to whom you wish to be able to speak?"

"What? Wha—what makes you think that?"

"There is." It wasn't a question. The man's expression grew sympathetic. It didn't make Sai feel any less uncomfortable. "Why don't you come with me? I can introduce you to the man who helped me."

"…I didn't believe him at the time, but I went with him because I thought it would be interesting. Looking back, I guess maybe part of me really wanted it to be real too. Even if it was something fake, I wanted to feel like I'd done it, you know? Like I'd at least tried. Then, when it didn't work, I'd be able to just get back to my life and get on with it." He snorted at his own sentiment. The sound was far from amused.

"The guy brought me to this huge, mansion-like place. It was the most amazing house I'd ever seen, I'll say that much. But it was a bit creepy too. Kind of like something out of an old horror movie. By then I thought I was probably going to go in and have some kind of bad prank played on me. Bed sheet ghosts and fake crystal balls or something. They didn't try any of that though—"

"They?" Shinichi asked.

"There were more of them by then. There was a whole group of them. My guide explained why he'd brought me, and they all seemed to understand—which was frankly more than I could say. I really didn't know what was happening by that point. They all just welcomed me in like it was the most natural thing in the world. There were all sorts of people there from all kinds of professions and age groups. There were even other people my age. I got to talking with some of them and, well… It's—different talking about them here, but there, in that house… You see, all of them—of us—had regrets rooted in tragedies. The man I met first, for instance. He lost his wife in a terrible apartment fire three years ago. There was this other man whose son had died on the day he was supposed to graduate high school. Then there was a lady who was also there for the first time. She'd lost her parents, her brother, her husband, and her two daughters to a cruise ship accident. When I talked to her, I could just feel her pain. It was terrible, that look in her eyes, like someone who was already long gone." Sai fell silent for a moment, mouth twisted into a grimace that was almost painful to look at. "It was kind of like being in a support group, except…"

"With the Master's help, I was finally able to apologize to her. It's just—incredible, you know?"

"I'm not alone anymore. They've come back to me."

"We're lucky to be here."

"…It was the same story over and over again. I could hardly believe it. But with so many cases, it was kind of hard to argue against it too. It all came back to that man. He called himself the Master of the Void—yeah, really, that's what they called him. As a newcomer, I was introduced to him by the man who first invited me to the meeting…"

"Your name is Chishima Sai?"

"Yeah."

"So what brings you to my humble home?"

Sai shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "It's…nothing really. I just thought I'd come see what all the fuss was about."

"Is that so." The man before him gave him a long, searching look. Then he smiled. It was a gentle expression, but the eyes that accompanied it were shrewd and dark. "Ah, I see. You've lost someone. It is your brother."

"What? How—how did you know that? I haven't told anyone here."

"Tell me, do you wish to speak with him?"

"…I didn't know how to answer. But then I thought, well, I'd come all this way. So I said yeah. I wanted to tell him that I got that game he wanted to give me, and that I thought it was an awesome game. I don't know why, but I just wanted Jinta to know that…that it wasn't for nothing, I guess. I felt kind of stupid after telling him, but the guy just nodded like he'd known all along what I was going to say. He told me that I would get my chance, and, well… I did." He paused, studying the faces of his audience, a sardonic smile making its way onto his lips. "You guys think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"It is a little difficult to swallow," Hakuba replied, skepticism clear in his tone. "If such a thing were possible, surely more people would have heard of it. It is hardly the kind of news that people can keep to themselves."

"Ah, that. I was getting there. You see, we aren't supposed to tell anyone. Not unless we are sure they share our—special circumstances and needs, so to speak. You see, it is a great privilege to be able to reconnect with the departed." As he spoke, Sai's voice took on a lilting tone as though he was reciting something he'd heard spoken by someone else. "For those who break that sacred trust, the beast of the void between life and death will come to drag you to the other side."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe that?"

A shadow fell over Sai's face. "I didn't at first. But… A few months ago, I thought about telling my mom about the whole thing because she kept asking me where I'd been going. That was when I saw it. It was standing in the kitchen doorway behind my mom when I opened my mouth to speak. I swear I felt my blood freeze. It was the most horrible thing I'd ever seen. I ended up telling Mom I was doing special training for track on my own. But I… I couldn't forget about that beast. Then Takamura Sakuno died, and I knew I had to tell someone."

"So she was part of this group too?" Shinichi asked.

Sai nodded. "She joined a while after I did. She was excited at the beginning, but I think she got scared. Some people do after a while. The last time I saw her, she told me she didn't ever want to go back. Three days later, she turned up at the park."

"Can you tell us about her brands? Were they from this group as well?"

"Brands? Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about those. You get them the first time you stand before the void and call for the person you wish to see. The Master puts them on you."

Kaito made a face at that. "Bit extreme for an initiation, don't you think?"

"It looks bad, but when it happened, I didn't feel a thing." He closed his eyes, inhaling slowly. "The ceremonies always feel like dreams. To be honest, sometimes I'm not even sure they happened except that I know they did."

Shinichi frowned. "Does this man, the Master, ask anything of people for participating in this?"

"Like what?"

"Does he want any kind of payment?"

"Payment? I don't think so. He's never asked me for anything anyway. The only thing he insists on is the rule of secrecy. Although he does have a lot of money. I don't know where it comes from."

"Do you know what his real name is?"

"No. I asked around a little, but I don't think he told any of us."

"Can you describe him?"

"He's about half a head taller than I am. His hair is black, and his eyes are dark. When I've seen him, he's always been wearing this fancy, robe thing with dragons embroidered on it. He always had this kind of smoky smell hanging around him too—a bit like incense. Oh, and he has really bony hands and a scar above his left eye."

Kaito noted with amusement that both Shinichi and Hakuba had pulled out notebooks and were scribbling away. Personally, he didn't think he was going to be able to forget anything about this peculiar meeting if he wanted to.

"Do you know the address of his house?"

"Er, not the exact address, but I can give you the directions."

When the detectives were done taking their notes, Shinichi set his notebook across his lap and caught Sai's gaze with his own serious, blue orbs. "Chishima-kun, your story is very interesting, and I would like to find out what exactly is going on with this group, but you still haven't told me what you wanted me to help you with."

"I want you to stop him."

Shinichi blinked, taken aback by the sudden steel in the teen's voice and eyes. "But I thought you said he's helped a lot of people."

"I thought that way at first, but I know better now. What he's doing… I still don't know if it's real or some kind of illusion or delusion, but it's become real for us. And I…I've realized that it isn't a blessing. It's a curse. We've been tied to our regrets and our fears. We can't move on like this. All we can do is wall ourselves in."

X

When Kaito, Shinichi, and Hakuba emerged from Sai's room, it was to find his mother hovering outside the door like a nervous butterfly.

"Is he all right?" she asked the moment the door had shut behind them.

"He's…" Shinichi started then stopped. He'd been about to say that Sai was fine, but the words stuck in his throat at the sight of the woman's gaunt, worried face. It was what she wanted to hear, but it would be a lie. He found himself having uncomfortable flashbacks of Ran.

Kaito stepped past him and took the woman's hand in a gesture of comfort. "He's working through a few things, but we're going to help him. So you don't have to worry about it, okay?"

"But why won't he talk to me?"

"He will when he's ready."

"O—oh." The woman looked vaguely taken aback by Kaito's display. "I—well, I guess you're right."

Kaito nodded, releasing the woman's hand and wishing her farewell. "We'll come again."

X

The sky was awash in evening grays by the time they stepped out of the hospital. Seeing as it was already so late, the three teens decided to stop at a restaurant on their way home for dinner. It wasn't so much about food, however, as a need to talk about the bizarre story they had just heard.

Shinichi was the first to break the thoughtful silence. He set his mug down with a click. "So we're dealing with a—a cult."

On the other side of the table, Hakuba shrugged. "It seems that way."

"We could always tell the police that we've found the connection between Takamura, Ogata, and Hasagawa," Kaito suggested. He was seated next to Shinichi and currently the focus of many of the surrounding customers' covert stares as he casually poofed his napkin into different shapes every few minutes. Shinichi had noticed many of the waiters and waitresses going out of their way to walk by the magician's seat more often just so they could catch a glimpse of the latest napkin sculpture.

"The main problem is whether or not we can actually link their deaths to the cult. If there's no connection there then there won't be anything the police can do. They can't arrest people for being strange. Law enforcement doesn't work that way."

Hakuba nodded. "The real question is whether there is a connection or not."

"It can't be a coincidence that so many people connected with them has died," the other detective murmured, though whether he was speaking to himself or his companions, the others couldn't tell. "There has to be a connection."

The blonde remained unmoved. "It seems unlikely, but coincidence still strikes me as far more plausible than the suggestion that their deaths had some sort of supernatural cause. It certainly can't be the fault of some nonexistent beast from the other side."

"Narrow-minded as ever, I see."

He shot the magician an annoyed look. "Those who have nothing constructive to say should keep their thoughts to themselves."

"It doesn't really matter if the monster is real or not," Shinichi interjected, drawing the others' attentions back to himself. He was frowning into his mug like the coffee inside it might have amazing secrets hidden in its murky depths. "If they believed it was real, it might have been enough. Ogata-san's expression when he fell—you two remember it, don't you? He was terrified."

"So he may have been scared into falling off his balcony by something he thought he saw," Kaito summarized. "It would certainly explain that look on his face."

"Or he could simply have been frightened by the fall itself."

"That's not all. Takamura-san died of a heart attack. Her family had a history with heart problems. It's not impossible that extreme stress could have triggered an attack." Letting his breath out in a frustrated huff, Shinichi sat back in his seat. "But I guess it's pretty pointless speculating about it. If scaring people was a crime, horror writers would all be in prison."

Hakuba snorted. "Well, the police certainly can't arrest him for making people believe in monsters. But if he is asking for any kind of compensation for this service of his then it would definitely qualify as a form of fraud."

"We need to go visit this man," Shinichi said, draining the last of his coffee. He cast a disappointed look into the empty mug before setting it down. "Whatever he's up to, it's causing far too much trouble to be ignored."

X

"Do you…think it's possible?"

Surprised by the soft, barely audible question, Kaito glanced to the side. Shinichi was walking beside him, arms crossed loosely with one hand tapping at his chin as he thought. The detective hadn't spoken a word since they had left the restaurant except to say goodbye to Hakuba when the blonde turned onto a different street. Because of this, Kaito had no idea what his question was referring to.

"What do you mean?"

"I was just thinking about that man."

"The cult guy?"

Shinichi nodded. "I can't help but wonder if we're right to try and pink all these problems on him. After all, from what we've heard, a lot of people were really depressed before they met him. Maybe he really is just trying to help."

"Yeah, help by convincing people that their dead relatives are following them around and monsters will come and eat them if they let the cat out of the bag."

Shinichi flushed. "I'm not saying the results were good. I'm just saying that it isn't impossible that this man doesn't actually mean any harm."

"I guess there is a slim possibility that that could be the case," Kaito said a bit dubiously. "But personally, anyone who goes around insisting people call him the Master of the Void or whatever probably isn't in it for the warm, tingly feeling of doing a good deed."

Shinichi couldn't suppress a short laugh at that. "It is a rather self important kind of name, isn't it? Still…"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you're wondering if he might really be able to communicate with spirits."

Having expected an annoyed declaration about the impossibility of such things, he was surprised when Shinichi only looked thoughtful.

"I've never come across a case of supernatural activity that couldn't be explained. But I suppose if there was ever any real proof…" He shrugged. It took a certain kind of arrogance to claim that all such things were impossible. A few years ago, he would have said a human couldn't possibly be shrunk ten years in age, but it had happened anyway. If de-aging was possible then who was to say that other equally strange things were not? That wasn't to say he was going to go believing every weird rumor of course. It was just that nowadays he liked to remind himself to keep an open mind. "What about you?"

Kaito folded his arms behind his head. "I've always felt like my dad is still watching over me, wherever he is. But as for this guy, I'm placing my bets on him being a fake."

"Most likely," Shinichi agreed. "What bothers me is just how into it all the members are. I mean, Chishima-kun clearly doesn't want anything to do with it anymore, but when he said that his brother was there… He didn't just think it. He knew. Hasagawa-san too. How do you instill that level of belief?"

"I don't know. But I might have an idea about someone we can ask," Kaito said grimly.

"Really?"

"Koizumi Akako. She's in our class."

"Isn't she the girl you said was a witch?"

"Yep. She's a bit tricky to deal with, but I may be able to get her to talk to me. I'll look into it and let you know how it goes."

"I'll see what I kind find about the owner of the mansion Chishima-kun mentioned then. Hopefully it'll lead us to who this Master really is." Spotting a convenience store he recognized as being near his apartment, Shinichi smiled in relief. It had been a long day. "So do you also live in this direction then?"

"Nope."

Shinichi's brows furrowed in confusion. "Are you going somewhere then?" It was rather late.

"I'm walking you home."

"You don't have to, you know. I know my way around here pretty well by now."

Kaito waved away his words with a light laugh. "I know." He didn't elaborate.

Shinichi watched him a moment longer before giving up. He knew by now that Kaito never said any more than he felt like. Besides, it was kind of nice having company.

The rest of the walk to Shinichi's apartment passed in a comfortable silence. At the door, Shinichi checked the time then turned to the magician.

"It's pretty late. If you want, you can stay here for the night."

Kaito blinked at him in honest surprise before his face broke out in a fond grin. "I'll take a rain check on that offer. Unfortunately, I still have a few errands to run." Snapping his fingers, he offered Shinichi a pink rose. "I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Shinichi took the rose on reflex before his tired brain had quite caught up with the situation. When it did, he blushed. "What—" he started to ask, but Kaito was already walking away (though not before giving Shinichi's hair a quick ruffle, the detective noted with exasperation).

"Good night!" the magician called back over his shoulder. Then he was gone, leaving Shinichi alone in the doorway of his apartment, wondering what kind of errand Kaito could possibly need to run at this late hour.

Unbeknownst to him, Kaito left the apartment building via the roof rather than the ground. As for his errands, well, suffice to say they weren't the kind of errands the average high school student had any truck with.

TBC