Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

41: Rustle in the Brush

"You two!" Aoko's outraged explosion was enough to make both Shinichi and Kaito cringe. There was definitely no doubt that the girl was a Nakamori.

"What did we do?" Shinichi asked out of the corner of his mouth, slightly alarmed by the expression on the girl's face as she came storming up to them. He had the sudden and very powerful urge to turn tail and run, but technically they were here to meet up with Aoko and Hakuba. It didn't make sense to leave. Besides, having come to know the inspector's daughter a lot better since transferring to Ekoda High then spending time working with her on this case, he knew that leaving now before the girl had gotten to say what she wanted would only spur her on to new heights of wrath.

"We'll know in a moment," Kaito whispered back. He was right.

"Why the hell didn't either of you call?!" the brunette bellowed, coming to a halt before them with her hands planted on her hips and fire in her eyes.

"C—call?" Shinichi stammered.

"To tell us you were okay!" she snapped in tones that clearly said it should be obvious. "The fire was on the news! And I knew you two were going to be there! But do either of you think to call and tell us that you're okay? No! I end up having to hear the whole story from my dad! And since it isn't his department, he couldn't even tell me very much!"

"We're really sorry," the boys chorused in hasty unison. Kaito pulled on his best "sincerely apologetic" look.

"Don't give me that look," the girl growled, zeroing in on him. "Now you're going to tell me exactly what happened yesterday. And don't leave anything out!"

Kaito sighed. "Yes ma'am." Really, the girl could be such a tyrant when she wanted to be. Which, come to think of it, was almost all the time.

That was when Hakuba coughed lightly, drawing attention to himself for the first time since arriving several paces behind Aoko. "Might I suggest we move this conversation elsewhere? I do not wish to make a scene out on the street. And," he added in a much lower voice that only the four of them could hear. "We are being followed."

"What?" Shinichi shifted, blue eyes darting around the surrounding street. That was when he noticed a plainly dressed man browsing the Spirits merchandise outside a shop a little further up the street. The same man, he recalled, hadn't even looked twice at the news about the current soccer team rankings and upcoming games currently airing in the sports shop window he'd passed earlier.

"How long?" Kaito inquired, voice equally quiet.

"I first noticed him the night before last." The blonde cast another quick look around then waved towards the restaurant doors beside them. "Let's talk inside. It is lunch time after all. We should be eating lunch."

The restaurant they had chosen to meet at served mostly western breakfast foods. Kaito immediately ordered their chocolate chip pancake special. Shinichi settled for a cup of coffee and a small breakfast sandwich. Hakuba went for an omelet, and Aoko ordered French toast topped with fresh fruit, cream, and caramel.

It wasn't until all their orders had arrived that they picked up the conversation they had dropped outside.

"He was walking around my house that night," Hakuba explained. "I saw him through the window. I thought at first that he was just passing by. But then I saw him again going the other way and again just a few minutes later. It was like he was pacing in front of my house or walking circles around it. So I went out and intercepted him. He told me that he was lost, so I offered to give him directions. However, he couldn't tell me his friend's address. So he excused himself, saying that he would have to go back home and find the address. Then he left."

"Then we saw him again yesterday," Aoko said, picking up the story and a syrupy corner of French toast. "We went to the library again yesterday to continue our research. While we were there, I noticed him sitting at the reading table in the corner of the library. He had several books in front of him, but he was holding the same one the entire time we were there. I never saw him turn a page."

"Has he tried to approach either of you?" asked Shinichi.

Both the blonde and Aoko shook their heads. "He just keeps hanging around back there. He's not very skilled as a tail, but he is persistent."

"But he's good at just defusing situations," Aoko added. "We tried to ask him what he was up to yesterday after he followed us out of the library, but he just laughed and blew us off with something about it being such a coincidence to meet a stranger he'd run into while being lost again. Then he went on to tell us about the book he'd been reading. He went on and on about it so that we couldn't get another question in before he said he had to run and did. He even thanked Saguru again for offering to help him the other night."

Kaito snorted. "Not stupid then. But if he isn't causing you any trouble, we should just keep him around a bit. If he's a spy, we'll know what information he's getting. We can even control the information he gets," he added, his grin from earlier shifting into a rather sinister smirk.

"I guppose that is one course of action," Hakuba admitted grudgingly. "However, I feel that we know too little about their motives to be making plans like that. What we need to know first is why they are suddenly so interested in us. And of course, this is all assuming that this man really is one of them—an assumption for which we have no proof."

"That's true," Shinichi murmured, looking thoughtful. "But taking into account the coincidence in timing and everything, it seems slightly more likely that they are related. I'll send the police a reminder to look for brands."

"The sudden interest in us is pretty obvious too," Kaito said, leveling his fork at Hakuba. "A hundred to one says it's because you spooked them when we walked into one of their members' houses and you went and introduced yourself—and Shinichi here—as detectives on an investigation. Anyone would raise their hackles at an introduction like that. That Kogane guy hurried off in the middle of the night that very day. I'll bet it was to tell all his little friends about us."

"But we have not actually done anything to warrant their fear," the blonde pointed out. "We are simply trying to understand their group."

"Yeah, but to what purpose? That's what they'll be wondering,."

"Kaito is right," Shinichi agreed. "We made them nervous with our poking around. But that means that they have something they believe they need to hide."

"So then the real question is what that is."

"Could it be that they're afraid we believe they killed Takamura-san and the others on purpose?" Aoko suggested.

"I doubt it," Hakuba replied. "Those deaths have all been ruled as accidents. Even if we did suspect foul play, there would be no evidence for us to use. In such a situation, even a very paranoid person should realize that committing murder would only make the situation harder on themselves."

The table fell into a thoughtful silence. It was Shinichi who broke it.

"It's possible that, for whatever reason, they're afraid that we will end up causing their group to be disbanded. Izuma-san accused me of trying to take her children from her. Judging from her history, it's very likely that her daughter would be one of her personal ghosts. So it would be logical for her to conclude that interference from us could lead to her losing her daughter all over again."

"Or someone told her that, if she didn't help get rid of us, she would eventually lose her daughter," said Kaito. "I'll bet that leader of theirs could do that easy. He's a miracle worker in their eyes—a man with the power to give them their loved ones back. I don't think it would be much of a stretch to say that they would do anything he wanted if it meant keeping that dream alive."

"So it isn't so much why they might want to get rid of us as why he might want to get rid of us," Shinichi concluded.

"Pretty much."

"He could be covering up past crimes," Hakuba offered. "Or perhaps he simply doesn't want to lose the power he has gained through this charade. If we reveal his trickery, this empire he has built for himself would crumble."

"I guess that would be logical," Shinichi said slowly. "But I doubt that the belief these people have in him—in this—would sway that easily."

"Well, either way, the guy's clearly an egomaniac. I mean, just look at what he makes everyone call him!" Kaito paused to polish off the last of his pancakes before setting his fork down with a clink. "Much as I hate to agree with the Nuisance here on anything, someone like that probably would see a threat to his power as something that needed to be eliminated at all costs."

The magician had a point, Shinichi thought. He'd seen people kill over less. And considering the man's secrecy, he must have other secrets as well, ones that he was going to great lengths to hide. "Why don't we go see him?"

Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at Aoko.

"I mean, we know where he lives. Sure, we don't know how many of the land owners are his aliases, if any of them are, or who actually owns the property now and so on and so forth, but that won't really be super important unless he has to be arrested and taken to court, right? So let's go talk to him and see what he's like. Maybe we'll even be able to figure out what he wants out of all of this and what kind of things he might be hiding."

"Aoko," Kaito said slowly, exasperation evident in the level tones of his voice. "You're suggesting marching into enemy territory through the front gates to confront a man who may very well have planned to blow Shinichi and two of his own followers up just yesterday morning. If I were in his shoes, you'd never leave the house again."

"What about sneaking in then?" the girl persisted, undaunted. "Oh, but I guess it would be illegal…"

"And we couldn't, as you were suggesting, speak with the guy if we snuck in. And when we disappear, no one will know where to look for us."

"I don't hear you suggesting anything."

The magician paused, looking thoughtful. "Well, we have technically been introduced to him before when we sold him that antique table. We may be able to orchestrate another meeting using that. Come up with a story that will get us invited in then look around while we're there. We can be in and out on purely official business as other people. After all, you'd have to be an idiot not to realize that it would be too suspicious for guests to disappear after being invited over. And this guy couldn't have done all he's done if he was that stupid."

"For that to work, we'd need a written invitation," Shinichi murmured, thinking. "Something that the police could use to get a search warrant."

Hakuba looked at him askance. "I must say that I am somewhat disturbed that you are planning for your own disappearance."

Shinichi coughed lightly, blushing. "It's not that I'm planning on disappearing. I just feel that it would be better to be prepared for the possibility."

"Maybe we should just leave them alone," said Aoko. She was starting to regret ever suggesting that they try to speak to the suspect. "This should really be up to the police, right? Dad would have a fit if he found out we were going out on our own to try and solve this case. Especially after what almost happened to Shinichi-kun."

The blue-eyed detective shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late for that. He—or they—have already decided that we're involved. Even if we changed our minds about pursuing this investigation, it wouldn't change what they think."

The inspector's daughter bit her lip. She could see his point even if she didn't like it. Seriously though, how had things gotten to this point? They'd started out just trying to figure out what might be messing with some people's heads. How had that evolved into bombs and burning buildings? It just didn't make any sense.

She didn't want it to make sense. The world was not supposed to be like this. But apparently it was, and all they could do was deal with it.

"I guess you're right. I just don't understand how you two can be so blasé about what happened," the inspector's daughter said, letting her breath out in a short sigh. "You both could have died. Doesn't that bother you?"

Kaito snorted. "Well that's a dumb question. Who'd be peachy about something like that? Sheesh. Think before you speak."

If it had been physically possible, steam would have been pouring from Aoko's ears. Instead, a low, almost inaudible growl escaped her only to grow rapidly into a bellow. "BAKAITO! How dare you—!" Unable to contain her outrage, she grabbed her bag and swung it over the table at her childhood friend. The magician slid out of his seat, narrowly dodging a blow to the head, and ran away laughing. Aoko charged after him.

Left at their table, Shinichi half rose from his seat. He could see the rest of the restaurant's patrons gaping and shying away as Kaito darted past them followed by Aoko's swinging bag. Some scrambled to get out of the way while others hollered out in surprise and warning.

"You should hurry and finish your coffee if you want the rest of it," Hakuba advised. He was still seated as he had been, sipping at the last of his tea. "I strongly suspect that we will not be staying much longer."

Shinichi sank back into his seat. A few minutes later, Hakuba's prediction proved true as the restaurant manager threw them out.

X

"I'm sorry."

Startled, Kaito glanced at the detective walking beside him. They had parted from Aoko and Hakuba some ten minutes ago and were now headed back to Shinichi's residence. The detective had been quiet the whole time they'd been walking. Kaito figured the boy was mulling over the contents of their earlier conversation, but maybe he'd been wrong. The apology really did seem totally out of the blue. He couldn't think of a single reason off the top of his head for Shinichi to be apologizing to him.

"What for?"

Blue eyes flickered up to meet his before shifting back to the path ahead of them. "The department store… I should have been more cautious." Thinking back, he felt like an idiot. He'd known it was probably some kind of trap. And even if he hadn't, Kaito had said as much more than once. But Shinichi had been so eager for the chance at an actual lead that he'd insisted on following it through anyway. It was like running after Gin and Vodka all over again, although he'd been lucky this time and Kaito had been watching his back, ready to bail him out.

"I keep making the same mistakes," he hissed under his breath, more to himself than to Kaito. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Things shouldn't have gotten that out of hand. I should have waited and thought more. It would have been easy to ask for a different meeting time at a different venue for a start. But I just accepted his terms and walked right into it." He laughed. The sound was dull, bitter. "I'm a detective, but I keep putting people in danger."

"Hey, hey," Kaito cut in, frowning. "I went with you because I wanted to. And I did think it was worth seeing what the guy had planned. Sure, we were giving them a free hand in a lot of things, but it's not like we didn't have our own backup plans in place. And everything turned out fine. No one got hurt, and the building didn't actually get wrecked. There'll need to be some repair work done, but that's a pretty small price to pay when you think about what those nutcases were planning to do to the place. I'm sure the owners are relieved."

"It could easily have been a lot worse," Shinichi murmured, blue eyes a little distant. "A lot of people could have gotten hurt, and what do we have to show for it? Two people who're going to be in jail for a while because their leader doesn't like us looking into his business. They wouldn't have had to be criminals if we hadn't come along and stirred things up."

"I wouldn't go start feeling sorry for them if I were you," Kaito advised, his own eyes hardening. "When something like that comes along, you always have a choice. They could've turned him down when he told them to do all that. They agreed, so they're going to have to take the responsibility. Shooting someone because your boss told you to doesn't mean you aren't responsible for pulling the trigger."

"And if they were being blackmailed?"

"No one said it would always be an easy choice. But it's still a choice. Besides," he added as an afterthought. "If you don't like the options you're given, you can always create your own. Now enough with all the could haves! Seriously, speculations like those never helped anyone. If it bothers you, just remind yourself to be more careful next time."

Shinichi sighed. "I do. I just… I know I get carried away sometimes… I get caught up in the case, and then I do or say things that I shouldn't. And sometimes that means people get hurt…"

"You're thinking about your return to grade school," the thief observed, watching Shinichi's expression carefully. He saw the detective flinch and knew he was right.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you that you aren't reckless sometimes," the magician declared, folding his arms behind his head and looking skyward. "That would be an obvious lie, and I don't do obvious. But I will tell you that a little recklessness isn't always a bad thing." He flashed a toothy grin at Shinichi. "At least it keeps things exciting."

"That's…not exactly what I would call a good thing."

"How about this then? I promise I'll be there to watch your back and rescue you when you need it, so go ahead and be reckless if you think it'll get us closer to that better world I know you still believe in."

Shinichi glanced up at him again in surprise then ducked his head. Kaito quirked an eyebrow. Was that a blush? How cute. He snickered behind his Poker Face.

"Thanks, I suppose," the detective mumbled. "But should you really be saying things like that? You're still a thief."

"Doesn't mean I can't be helpful if I want to be."

"You always have an answer to everything, don't you?"

"That's because I am amazing."

"…"

TBC

A.N: Er, so yeah, re-planning is going very slowly, but at least it's going. Anyhow, thanks for being patient. ^.^U On a somewhat unrelated note, the Toriko chapter of Travelers is up. Have a great week!