Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

28: Paths and Places

"Koizumi-san. Kuroba-san mentioned that you would be coming, but I thought it wouldn't be for another few days."

The redhead inclined her head in agreement, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "That is true. And yet you do not seem surprised to see me now."

"Jinta told me you were coming."

"That would be your brother's name?"

Sai nodded. "I guess they filled you in."

"To a degree," the redhead murmured. "However, the majority of what I have learned has been through…other sources." Taking a seat beside the bed, she let her ruby gaze wander over the charm-bedecked room. Her attention lingered on the window and the small shadows in the corners and behind the decorations. "Your collection is very interesting. Not very well coordinated, but it does seem to be effective."

"I don't know if it's going to hold. I can feel it there on the outside. It's like a shadow on the other side of a foggy window."

Tilting her head slightly to one side, the witch studied the boy on the bed from beneath half-lidded eyes. "You have good senses."

He shrugged. "I wouldn't know about that. I think half of it is in my head, but even knowing that, I can't make myself ignore it."

"Like I said, you have good senses. It is surprising but fortunate."

"Fortunate?" Sai repeated, tone doubtful. "Why would you say that?"

"There are a few questions I would like to ask you," Akako said instead of answering.

"Can you answer me one question first?"

The witch considered this then nodded in ascent. "I suppose that would only be fair."

"Are you sure you want to help me? If you can sense it too then you, at least, should be able to tell that there's something powerful at work here."

"Your shadow is not the only powerful force here," Akako replied with the quiet calm of the certain. "But tell me, if you feel that there is so much danger, why did you ask for help?"

"The others don't really believe it. They believe me, but not it. And I think that's protection of a sort."

Akako hid her surprise behind a serene façade. She was impressed, and that was no easy feat to accomplish. This boy had no training and no real knowledge, but he had fantastic intuition when it came to the arcane. It was, perhaps, not a coincidence then that he had found his way to the craft or the craft its way to him. But that was a matter to ponder at a later time.

"And I need to get the word out," he continued, unaware of his visitor's musings. "I can't just sit in silence and do nothing. Not when I've seen the way he's been warping our lives."

"You are not the only one with such sentiments."

"You're not one of them though."

Akako sat back a little, her gaze flickering to the side for the fraction of an instant before it returned to Sai's face. "Perhaps you're right. I have always found that we each have paths that we must walk. There is choice, to some degree, but fate is still fate."

"You're wrong."

One elegant, crimson eyebrow rose. "Am I?"

"Not about all of it. Even if there is such a thing as fate, we won't ever know what it was supposed to be. So we still have to do everything we can to grasp for the light because maybe our fate was to reach the stars after all."

Akako laughed. It wasn't her usual reserved, secretive chuckle but a quiet, sincere laugh. "I can see why Kuroba-kun and his little sparrow are so determined to help you."

Sai opened his mouth but then shut it again. He could feel a faint blush climbing up into his face. He'd never seen Koizumi Akako from so up close before, and he had certainly never seen her laugh. He'd always thought she was kind of distant—the beautiful deity to which many bowed but whom no one could approach. Not on equal footing anyway. But seeing her laugh now, he found himself thinking that she was more human than he had thought.

"So, um," he started, stuttered, then stopped. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he tried again. "So what did you want to ask me?"

"Ah yes. First, I would like you to describe to me the ceremony through which you summoned your brother. I want to know everything."

"I'm not sure where to start."

"Then start with the participants. I want to know who they were: their demeanor, their history, their garb, and whatever else you may know."

X

"Why are you suddenly interested in real-estate?" Satou-keiji asked curiously as she leaned over Shinichi's shoulder to look down at the massive binder laid out on the desk at the police station. It contained pages upon pages of information regarding land and houses, their registration, ownership, renovations, usage, etc. The young detective was leafing through the heaping mound of information page by single page and actually reading all the ant-sized writing if the time he was spending plastered to the pages was any indication.

Finally she couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. "What are you looking for, Kudo-kun? You know, we might be able to find it for you if you tell us about it."

"I'm trying to find out who owns a particular property in Ekoda," he murmured absently as he flipped to the next page.

"What's the address?"

"I don't know."

Satou's eyebrows rose. "Then how will you know when you find what you're looking for?"

"I got the directions from a classmate of mine," he explained. "I went to take a look at the place before I came here, but it looks like it used to be multiple properties. Someone must have bought them and knocked everything down before building the house that's there now."

"I see. I guess that would make things a little complicated." When Shinichi didn't say any more, the woman turned her attention to the map spread out next to the stacks of old records the young detective was sifting through. A circle had been drawn around a part of the Ekoda district. She didn't recognize the area.

"So why are you looking into this property?" she inquired, her policeman's curiosity perking up at the scent of mystery.

Now, finally, the boy looked up. Blue eyes blinked before coming to focus on her expectant face. She didn't miss the slight hesitation before he answered.

"The classmate I mentioned asked me for some help with something personal. It's a little complicated."

Satou's eyes narrowed. "You know that you should tell us if it's dangerous, right? Detective or not, you're still a civilian."

Shinichi's face settled into a calm, determined mask. "I don't know if it's dangerous yet. If it turns out that it is, I promise I'll report it to the police."

The woman scrutinized his face for a long moment before nodding in satisfaction. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "That's good. We like having you around, you know. So don't go getting yourself hurt." She patted him on the shoulder and headed off to intercept Takagi, who had just entered the office.

Behind her, Shinichi sat frozen in his seat for several seconds longer. Then his breath left him in a rush, and an answering smile crept its way onto his face. Feeling suddenly reinvigorated, he returned to his search.

Another half an hour of perusing old and older records later, he sat back and looked over the list he'd compiled. He had found five different houses that he believed had once sat on the land now serving as the cult's headquarters. The properties had each been sold to different men, but all within the minimal span of two years. Their ownership had not changed hands since, or at least not legally. The question remained, however, whether the men who'd bought them were different aliases for a single person or really five different men. He hadn't had the time yet to look into each of them in depth, but at least on the surface they all appeared legitimate.

The first man was a Banji Masahiro. Almost seventy years old, he was the owner of a small but lucrative business dealing in advertising (though he was now retired). He had been the first to purchase a house on that property, and even now it was listed as his place of residence.

The second house had been bought by Masahiro's brother, Banji Seichi. The younger of the brothers at fifty eight, he was an antiques dealer.

The remaining three houses had been bought at exactly the same time by Kogane Inosuke, Yagami Shintarou, and Higuzashi Alexander. The first was your typical company man, the second was a writer, and the last helped manage accounts for companies who needed a presence on the web. Everything looked normal enough.

Opening his own notebook, he began to carefully copy down the information on each house and its last—presumably current—owner. He included sketches of the photographs in the records that showed what those houses had looked like and where they might have been situated in relation to the mansion that he knew was there now. Then he took pictures of the more relevant documents with his phone. Fortunately, these were all public records.

"Are you still looking at those?" Satou-keiji was back. This time, she had Takagi with her. The male officer was giving Shinichi's research materials a very confused once over. "It's getting pretty late. You should really be heading home. Takagi and I can drive you to your apartment."

"I would appreciate that. Thank you." Shinichi shut his notebook and set about herding all the papers, folders, and binders back into neat stacks. It was too bad these records were all hardcopies. On the other hand, since he didn't have permission to access the computers in the station, maybe that was just as well.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Satou asked as the three of them settled into their seats and clipped their seatbelts into place.

Shinichi shrugged in the back seat, swallowing a sigh. "Not yet, but it's only a matter of time. I have five leads that I'll need look into."

"Five leads huh? That's not a bad start."

"What are you working on?" Takagi asked, turning around in his seat to look at Shinichi from the front passenger seat.

"It's something for a friend. I'm trying to find a man." He repeated the physical description that Sai had given them. "I think I found the property where he lives, but the record say that the property is supposed to be five different properties with five different owners. Now I need to find out if all those owners are real, and if they are then which one of them is the one who owns the place now."

"I could give that description to one of our profile sketch artists and see what they come up with," Satou offered. "That should help you narrow things down, especially if it turns out to be someone around these guys and not one of the five themselves."

"Could you? That would be helpful."

"Sure. Just remember to keep your promise about letting us know what's going on."

"I remember."

X

The teapot let out a high pitched whistle as hot steam burst from its capped spout. An instant later, the cap popped off to bounce off the stove with a loud clang. Shinichi dropped the rag he'd been using to wipe down the living room table and rushed into the kitchen. Turning down the heat of the stove, he pulled three mugs from the cupboards and set them on the counter beside a brand new box of tea leaves. A glance at the coffeemaker showed that it still had a little time to go. On second thought, he reached back into the cupboards for a can of coco powder, still sealed. That done, he returned to the living room to finish giving the furniture a good brush up and polish. When he was done, he stood back and studied his handiwork.

He had rearranged the couches and chairs to leave easy access to all the power outlets and plumped the cushions. A decorative glass lamp spiraled up from the corner table where a few of his more recently purchased books were stacked. The rest of their brethren sat in rows on two shelves nearby. Wood floorboards gleamed from their recent mopping. He had debated getting a rug but ended up deciding against it as he really didn't want to be bothered with the additional cleaning rugs demanded. A coat rack stood guard by the door. Lastly, a large, framed print covered the wall behind the longest couch. It was a reproduction of Kanzaki Mamoru's Sunset Gold. Looking across the room at it, Shinichi marveled at the effect. It was like having a second window in the room. One that looked out over a golden lake at sunset towards an endless horizon. Seeing it now, he could remember vividly that moment atop the cliffs where it seemed this very scene had come to life before his very eyes.

It wasn't perfect, he decided. Everything was still too new, their faces bright with the artificial gleam of things that had not yet learned the passage of time. But the adjustments did seem to be adding a dash of life to the—no, his—apartment.

The doorbell rang.

Snapping back to attention, Shinichi hurried to the door. An unfamiliar twinge of anxiousness made his hand hesitate over the knob. It was ridiculous. His guests had come to his place before already on multiple occasions. But, well, this time was the first time that he had actually invited them. All those other visits had been somewhat forced upon him—not that he minded. He had appreciated their good intentions. But now they were here because he had asked them to come.

Wow, the last time he'd invited anyone over was when he'd last been seven. Which, admittedly, wasn't as long ago as it probably sounded to most. But it had still been in another lifetime. He glanced back into the apartment. Had he forgotten anything? He'd redecorated because he'd wanted to bring a little life into the apartment—acknowledge that it was indeed his own and not just a temporary whim. But, looking at the door now, he wondered if maybe he kind of wanted to make a good impression too.

He felt like he was trying to set up his life. Set the table for more and hope that it would come. He wasn't sure if that was pathetic or proactive. Or maybe he was just second guessing himself on totally pointless things and should just drop all related thoughts and move on to the business at hand.

He opened the door.

"That took a while," Kaito said before the door had even fully opened. "I was starting to think I'd have to let myself in. But Aoko said she'd brain me with her mop if I did."

"…" It wasn't the kind of greeting Shinichi expected from guests, but it was very much the kind of greeting he expected from these guests.

"It is starting to get a little chilly outside," Hakuba intoned from his position at the back of the line carrying both his and Aoko's backpacks. "I would appreciate it if we could move this discussion inside."

"Onward ho!" Kaito cheered and barged into the entrance hall, catching Shinichi around the waist as he went. Somehow he had his shoes off and indoor slippers on in the blink of an eye and was whisking Shinichi into the living room and onto one of the couches before the detective could even react. The magician spotted the reproduction immediately. Letting out a low whistle, he grinned down at Shinichi. "A print from the gift shop, I believe?"

The detective flushed just a little but nodded. "It seemed poetic, I guess. The treasure that no one or everyone can have. And it really is beautiful artwork."

"Now I wish I'd bought myself a souvenir," the magician mused, heaving a melodramatic sigh. "But alas, I was too busy fending off belligerent swans. Maybe I should train some. They'd make some terrifying assault teams."

"I would like to pretend that I did not hear what I believe I just heard you say," Hakuba muttered as he took a seat on the room's one armchair. He set his laptop on the table before him and looked over it at Kaito with his brows furrowed to the point where he looked like he had a uni-brow. "I never want to hear anything about swan assault teams looting wealthy tourists or other news of that ilk."

"Excuse me, but I think you're under the misconception that I care what you think about anything," Kaito replied with a tone of airy disdain.

"Can we stay on topic, please?" Shinichi sighed, slightly irritated. The two were ruining his rare moment of good mood. "I have tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. What do you guys want?"

"Tea would be great."

"Tea."

"Hot chocolate forever! Though I wouldn't mind if you made it a mocha for me."

"I'm not sullying my coffee that way," Shinichi sniffed before sailing away into the kitchen. He returned with four mugs. The fourth mug, set in front of Aoko, was an onyx-patterned mug rather than a white one like the others (he hadn't expected the inspector's daughter, but he was prepared!).

By the time all the mugs had been placed on the table beside their prospective clients, Hakuba had plugged his laptop into a nearby socket, and Aoko was already turning on her own. Kaito had skipped ahead to read the files Shinichi had left in a neat pile on the center of the table.

"Excuse me," Shinichi said a bit uncertainly to Aoko, "I'm not saying I mind, but why are you here?"

"Saguru told me what was going on," the girl explained, expression fierce as her eyes flashed. "I won't stand for it! No one should be allowed to mess with people's heads like that for any reason. Just tell me how I can help."

The files and notes that Shinichi and Hakuba had gathered were passed around the room, and the next half hour was spent in silent reading. It was Hakuba who finally broke the silence.

"So these property owners," he began, lowering the file he'd been reading about the antiques dealer. "Is this all the information you have on them?"

"So far, yes. There wasn't much on any of them in the public records. None of them have ever been charged with or suspected of any crimes, they pay all their bills on time, and they apparently get along with their neighbors as there have never been any complaints."

"Which would make total sense if they were all the same guy," Kaito muttered, reading the web campaign builder's files. "With all these digital outlets for these jobs they supposedly have, it wouldn't be too far off to say that one person could run multiple well established lives without breaking any laws as long as they start long enough ago. Of course there are some things that wouldn't check out, but if they're quiet and don't give anyone any reason to suspect them of anything then the charade could go on for a while."

"A subject upon which you must surely be an expert," Hakuba grunted.

"Wait, do you really think that could be true?" Aoko set her mug of tea down with an emphatic clunk. "Could one person really be running all five of these lives? Being all these people at once and still finding time to play the creepy cult leader roll?"

"I don't know," Shinichi replied, hand rising to his chin. "That possibility seems a little unlikely, but we can't rule it out. But my first thought when I saw these records was that, well, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that they could be other members of the cult. If they have lost family or friends then they may very well be linked to the group if not the leader himself."

"And, what, they donated their property so that he could build a huge mansion on the place to hold these séances in?"

"I know it sounds a bit farfetched. That's why I'd like to try and talk to each of these people individually."

Kaito cleared his throat. "I don't know about you guys, but I still think we should hear what Koizumi has to say before we charge in to confront Mister Void."

"I agree," Shinichi said, eliciting a raised eyebrow from the magician. "But that doesn't mean we can't investigate these five. They're definitely connected to his mansion. I believe that we will be able to gain a lot of useful information just by finding out as much as we can about these property owners."

"In that case, I will search the police databases for any other traces of them," Hakuba volunteered. "I have access to most of the Tokyo PD records and databases. I may be able to use those to track our targets back to their roots and see if they are all real."

"I can help with that," Aoko offered. "I sometimes help some of the officers at the Ekoda station reorganize their files and the like. It shouldn't be a problem for me to get a look through the non-confidential stuff for anything that might be cult related now that we have an idea of the type of things to look for."

"I bet I can lure out our business guys," Kaito announced. "Shinichi, you in?"

The detective hesitated only a moment before nodding. "Okay. What did you have in mind?"

TBC

A.N: To everyone who's celebrating it, happy Thanksgiving! ^_^