Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

44: Hidden

Both boys stood perfectly still, barely daring to breathe lest the sound of their breaths alert the men on the other side of the boulder to their presence.

Men who had just killed and were now looking for more victims.

"There, that'll do," the younger voice said, sounding far too cheerful for a man who had just buried a body (bodies?). "So where to now? We have to hurry if we want to find them."

"Right. Let's go this way."

The sounds of the two men's heavy boots crunching over the foliage drew closer, and Kaito wrapped an arm around Shinichi instinctively, pulling the detective against his side as he shifted them behind and against the trunk of a large tree.

"Don't move," he whispered. The words were uttered so softly that the air didn't even stir.

The footsteps stopped just on the other side of their boulder.

"There," the gruff voice muttered. "Come on."

Then the footsteps started moving again—away this time. Despite that, it wasn't until the sound of the men's conversation drifted out of earshot that the two teens relaxed.

He looked up to find himself almost nose to nose with Kaito. He blushed then wondered why. Dismissing the thought as irrelevant, he pointed around the boulder.

Kaito nodded and released him.

The thief was completely silent as he slid out of their hiding place and glided around the boulder. It was as though Kaito had really become a phantom. Shinichi shook his head. Kaito really was a talented thief.

Pushing away concerns about the futures of friends who insisted on honing their criminal skills, Shinichi crept after the thief.

Kaito's head popped back around the boulder before Shinichi could reach it, and he waved.

"Coast's clear," he hissed. "But if we don't go now, we might lose them."

And Shinichi more than anyone knew that that should not be allowed to happen.

They followed the two men from their rock formation to a small clearing and out of it into yet more dense forest. Shinichi kept a close eye on their surroundings, committing the route to memory. They needed to be able to find their way back to that boulder and the burial spot it marked. He pictured that space behind the rocks as they moved, wondering who it was that the two men might have killed. He and Kaito hadn't seen any blood in their admittedly cursory examination, and the disturbance in the earth had been minimal. Then again, there had been so much dry foliage on the ground that it was difficult to be sure.

In any case, they had to find out what these men were after and make sure no one else got hurt.

"Do you have any idea where they might be headed?" Shinichi asked in a whisper when the men paused to take a break, forcing their two tails to do the same.

"Away from civilization," Kaito said with a shrug. "We're getting deeper into the mountains. I think there might be a few really, really small settlements, but none of them are really what I'd call close."

Shinichi frowned, his hand rising to his chin. "But the way they were talking… They're following someone—likely more than one person."

"Well, if their prey is aware that they're in danger, they could be running without any clear destination in mind."

"The real question is why. What could they be after?"

"They did say something about leading," the thief recalled. A wry quirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Perhaps they're looking for buried treasure."

The detective shot him a deadpan look. The expression lasted only a moment before giving way to something more thoughtful. Truth be told, Shinichi couldn't, in good conscience, say that that was impossible. Though he was far more accustomed to treasure hunts that turned out to be wild goose chases, he had, on occasion, stumbled across real treasure—usually in the company of armed and murderous thieves. So treasure wasn't entirely out of the question, even if it was improbable. Still, the whole situation felt off somehow.

"I wish we could move closer," he muttered, squinting at the screen of brush ahead of them even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see anything. The forest around here was simply too dense. It meant that progress was slow for them all, and visibility was terrible. They were tracking their quary purely by the disturbance they left in their wake and the occasional snatch of murmured voices. And there was one source of the oddness, Shinichi realized. How were those men tracking their prey? And why didn't they appear to be in any hurry?

"If we get close enough to see them in this place, we'll be close enough to be seen," Kaito said, voicing what Shinichi already knew. "Although," he continued, indigo eyes sharp. "I venture a proposition. There are two of them and two of us. They may possibly be armed, but we have the element of surprise. And we are not entirely unequipped either." He raised a hand, showing off a row of smoke and flash bombs held neatly between his fingers before he closed his hand, making all the little bombs disappear. "So, rather than following them indefinitely, it may be wiser to simply catch them now and, ah, persuade them to tell us who they're chasing. Then we can go back for the bodies they buried and call in the police to cart these two away and help find and rescue their runaway prey."

Shinichi's brows furrowed as he thought. They couldn't keep following these men indefinitely. That part was indisputable. And the longer they waited to act, the more of a disadvantage they would be in. After all, he and Kaito hadn't brought any food with them, not having expected to be out hiking for half a day. Their water was already running low. The two men were likely much better prepared for a long outdoors trip. If they were going to act, it would really have to be now, wouldn't it?

"All right," he said finally. Part of him was reluctant. That part remembered all too clearly all the many, many times that he had gotten himself or someone he cared about into trouble because he decided to charge into a situation before he had all the information. But, well, Kaito was here this time. If anyone knew how to improvise in a tough situation, it was Kaito.

"First, tell me what you've got on you," Kaito instructed.

"I have my phone, but there's no reception. I also have my watch. That's about it."

"Right. Well, I have a few distractions up my sleeves, some rope, a whistle, un-inflated balloons, two knives, and a lot of paint bombs. Oh, and my card gun. I never go anywhere without it these days."

"That's…a lot," Shinichi said a bit taken aback. "Why do you have knives?"

"Basic camping tool."

"Oh… I don't suppose those smoke bombs contain sleeping gas?"

"One does. But it's pretty breezy right now. Unless they get a good, deep whiff of it, I wouldn't count on it taking them out for long if at all."

Shinichi glanced in the direction where their quary were making lunch. They could smell hotdogs sizzling over an open fire. The aroma was reminding both teens that they hadn't eaten anything but egg and rice that morning. Shinichi found his mouth watering even though he didn't normally care one way or another about hotdogs. His stomach rumbled loudly. Flushing pink, he coughed lightly to distract himself from thoughts of food.

"Okay," he said. "So then what's the plan?"

"We could create a diversion with some smoke bombs and be off with their hotdogs before they know what's happening," Kaito suggested a bit wistfully.

Shinichi blinked then reached over to smack the magician on the shoulder. "We're not here to steal their food…" His stomach growled in protest. It quite liked Kaito's idea.

The magician sighed. "I know. But you can't blame a guy for thinking about it. How about this instead. We pretend we're lost hikers who've come upon their camp. We'll ask for directions and angle for an invitation to join their meal. That way, we get food and information."

"…You're really hungry, aren't you?"

"Your stomach agrees with me, eh?"

The detective blushed. "Fine. But they might try to attack us if they think we're suspicious."

"Then we go with plan B."

"Plan B?"

"Yep. Knock them all out, eat, then take them back to the hotel where we can call the police and leave everything else to them."

Shinichi looked from the not-path ahead of them to Kaito's cheery face and back then let out a stifled laugh—stifled because he knew better than to laugh too loudly when they were this close to dangerous criminals. The way Kaito put it made the whole situation sound so simple. And he felt vaguely like all the seriousness had been sapped out of the moment. He'd been tense just seconds ago, but now he found himself feeling relaxed. Calm.

It wasn't that he didn't expect trouble or that he thought this was going to be easy. It was just that, with Kaito here, he felt…like it would all be okay no matter what came their way.

Since when had he begun to trust the thief so much? No, not the thief. Kaito.

X

Not wanting to come upon the two men from behind lest it give away the fact that they'd been following the duo, Kaito and Shinichi circled around the men's campsite to approach from the side. They purposely made a lot of noise as they drew closer.

"Hey, do you smell that?" Kaito asked. "It smells like food."

"I think I see smoke," Shinichi agreed.

"Come on. Hurry up!"

"Is someone there?" the gruffer of the two men called out, rising to his feet.

"Over here!" Kaito called out in a relieved voice, waving his arms. "Yo! My friend and I came out hiking, but we've totally gotten lost. You have no idea how glad we are to actually find some people! Can you help us?"

"Oh, well, we can try," the younger of the men said with a friendly smile. He gestured for Kaito and Shinichi to join them around their little campfire. "Please, have a seat. We were just making lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"That would be awesome," Kaito agreed with a sheepish laugh, rubbing at the back of his neck. "We didn't think we'd be out so long, so we packed a little too light."

"I did tell you we shouldn't have taken that turn at the ridge," Shinichi muttered, trying to play his part. He tugged the bill of the baseball hat Kaito had pulled out of nowhere for him (something about overly distinctive cowlicks) lower over his face.

Kaito heaved a frustrated sigh. "I said I was sorry, all right? Jeez. Give me a break already. It's not like I wanted to get us lost."

The younger of their new acquaintances chuckled, offering them each a hotdog in a bun. "Come on, eat something. It'll make you feel better. I mean, what's important now is that you're not lost anymore, right?"

Shinichi offered the man a hesitant smile as he accepted the proferred food. His mouth was already watering just from the smell, but he found himself wondering if it was really safe to eat. Then again, these men had no reason yet to do anything untoward to them. If the two had really not wanted company, they wouldn't have extended the invitation to eat with them so readily. The hotdogs also didn't have any condiments on them. Not to mention that the man who'd handed them over was doing so with his bare hands—which he was now using to eat his own hotdog. Deciding the food was probably safe, Shinichi took a bite. It was probably because he was hungry, but he could happily have sworn right then that it was one of the most delicious things he had ever eaten.

"So do you guys hike around here often?" Kaito asked as all four of them settled down to their meal. "Oh, I'm Kato, by the way. And this is Conan."

Shinichi almost choked on his hotdog. Fortunately, he managed to swallow his current mouthful, so he only ended up coughing.

"I'm Takeru," the younger man said. "And this is my uncle, Yujirou. He used to hike around here a lot before he moved to Kyoto. This is his first time back in years, so I asked if I could tag along. I'm sure he'll be able to help you guys find your way back."

"So are you camping out then?" asked Shinichi.

"Yep. Uncle says it's the only way to really see this land the way it's supposed to be seen."

Uncle Yujirou grunted. "There's no point coming all the way out here if you're just going to hole up in a hotel. I suppose that's where the two of you are from."

It hadn't been stated like a question, but Kaito answered anyway. "Yeah. We came with a tour group because my mom wanted to go to the hot springs. Conan and I wanted to hike though, so, well." He shrugged, looking sheepish. "Here we are."

"I see."

"So you two came out here alone?" Takeru asked. He sounded only mildly curious, but the question put both teens on high alert.

"We're supposed to meet up with some friends of ours, but I'm not sure we're going to make it in time to the meeting place at this rate," Kaito improvised. "What about you guys? Are you in a group? Or is it just you two?"

Takeru laughed. "Just us. We were afraid that we'd scare them away if there were too many of us."

"Takeru!" the older man barked, eyebrows drawing together.

His nephew froze for a split second then let out a forced chuckle. "I—I mean, I really like animals. I wanted to see if I could get some good wildlife pictures on this trip. But if there were a lot of us, we'd probably scare all the animals away."

"I have heard that there are a lot of rare species in this area," Kaito agreed, leaning forward slightly in an affectation of interest. "What kind of animal are you guys looking for?"

Shinichi didn't miss the way the two men hesitated before answering.

"I like birds," Takeru declared a little too enthusiastically. "And Uncle said he'd show me some really unusual ones that live around here."

"I did," the older man agreed. He sat back down on a fallen log and picked up another hotdog. "So which hotel are you two headed back to?"

Kaito rattled off the address, and the older man nodded solemnly like he'd expected as much. "It won't be too hard for you to get back, though it will take at least two to three hours' travel. I can draw you a map." He already had a small notebook and a pen out and was doing just that. Shinichi was a little surprised to see that the man's notebook had butterflies on the cover. It seemed rather…colorful in contrast to the man's grim, unsmiling demeanor.

As his uncle worked, Takeru set about dismantling and packing up their campsite with the efficiency of someone who had done it several times already recently. Shinichi offered to help. Together, they put out the fire and collected the trash. The tools used to grill the hotdogs were cleaned in a nearby stream, and everyone's water bottles were refilled. It was as Shinichi was helping Takeru stow all the cooking equipment back into their traveling packs that he caught a glimpse of quite another set of equipment. There were two cameras and a whole lot of film. And there, peeping out from under the cases upon cases of film, was something gauzy. Lying on top of it all was a book.

The whole lot disappeared as Takeru zipped up his pack and slung it over his shoulder. "Well, it was nice meeting you guys. I hope you find your way back safely."

"Yeah," Shinichi said, returning his smile. "Good luck to you too."

The older man blinked at him, taken aback. But then he shrugged it off and turned to hand his uncle the other pack.

Yujirou ripped the page of instructions from his little notebook and handed it to Kaito. The magician's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a rather beautiful sketch on another page just before the notebook closed. The image depicted a butterfly perched delicately on an open blossom.

"Don't take any shortcuts," the man said sternly. "Some that get lost in these parts never come back. You were lucky this time."

Kaito nodded solemnly. "I will remember that. And thank you. You guys have been a great help."

With all their things in order, the two traveling parties said their goodbyes. Then the uncle and nephew pair continued on their way, and Kaito and Shinichi remained in the clearing on the pretext of resting up before they headed back.

"We totally jumped the gun, didn't we?" Kaito remarked to the ashes of the campfire.

"It would explain why they could burry the bodies so quickly without really disturbing the ground at all."

"Though, I must admit, the fact that they buried them at all is rather peculiar."

"I don't know. It seems like the respectful thing to do."

"Yes, but, if you ask me, a butterfly should be cremated. Getting stuck in a hole underground seems like just the opposite of a good fit."

The two paused and looked at each other. Then they both burst out laughing.

"Do you think we should have gone with them to make sure?" the detective asked, his laughter fading into a hint of concern. "I mean, butterflies in this season?"

"There's a really rare species of butterfly that lives in these mountains. It can only be found in butterfly form around this time of year. They're small and hard to find, but they've been described as the jewels of the forest by people who've seen them. As you can imagine, the locals don't like when tourists come through searching for them. Everyone's afraid the butterflies will die out, especially if the tourists keep hunting for them, disturbing their habitat and taking them away."

Shinichi's brows furrowed. "You don't think they were poachers then, do you?"

Kaito blinked. He hadn't thought of that. "I sure hope not. Although," he added as an afterthought. "I don't think poachers would stop to bury butterflies. And Uncle Yujirou's sketches were pretty amazing. It takes great care to draw like that."

"That's true." Blue eyes turned to stare at Kaito. "You sure know a lot about these butterflies."

Kaito hesitated a moment, cast a look up at the sun already high over their heads, then sighed. "I suppose there's no point keeping it a secret anymore. You asked me what I told my doves to look for this morning. Well, that was it. I was hoping we'd be able to find a swarm. It's a pretty amazing sight."

"So you've seen them before?"

"Only once. Back when Tou-san was still with us." A small grin tugged at the magician's lips. "We stumbled across a swarm on accident. It was one of the only times I ever saw my old man surprised." He chuckled. "The whole thing would have been memorable just for that."

Shinichi snorted. "I can imagine."

There was a long silence before Kaito let out a sigh and hopped back onto his feet. "Well, we might as well head back. We're late for our meeting with Aoko and the others already as it is. Though we can stop by to check on the 'bodies' if you want to make sure."

Shinichi nodded and followed Kaito's example, standing up and dusting off his clothes. Soon, the two of them were trudging back the way they had come. Shinichi couldn't help but notice that they were not following Uncle Yujirou's instructions, but he decided to keep the observation to himself.

Shinichi estimated that they were about halfway back to the boulders where this had all begun when they spotted the flicker of something bright red in the dappled shadows below the canopy ahead. And suddenly Kaito's hand was around Shinichi's wrist in an iron grip, and the magician was running.

Caught completely off guard, Shinichi almost fell before he managed to get his feet back under him. Even then, he had to put all his effort into running in order to keep up with the magician's almost inhuman speed.

"What?" he started to call out, but the word emerged weak and broken, battered aside by panting breaths as they ran.

They pelted through a series of small meadows full of flowers and leapt through prickly screens of underbrush. They wove in and out of the trees and barely avoided getting slapped in the face by low hanging branches. Shinichi was only dimly aware of the dry leaves slipping under his shoes and the occasional jutting root that would catch at his feet, trying to jerk him back.

They were no longer anywhere near the route back.

And suddenly they were tumbling out into yet another clearing, only this one was more like a hollow in the heart of a grove where the sunlight fell in thick, warm shafts of gold.

Their mad dash came to an abrupt halt. Two pairs of eyes stared: one in surprised wonder and the other in gleeful satisfaction.

The air was glittering—not like Kaito had set off a glitter bomb, but like there were gemstones raining from the sky. Or, no, more like gemstone flakes dancing on a light breeze, swirling around and around through the sunbeams. Red, blue, green, gold, purple, pink, orange, silver—every color was there, and every one flashed and spun and gleamed like a rainbow had fragmented and learned to dance.

Shinichi knew instinctively that here was what Kaito had wanted to show him. But, even knowing that the dancing lights were butterflies, he couldn't make that out. It was because there were so many of them. It was probably some form of evolutionary adaptation, but the cloud of sparkling colors made it difficult to focus on any one point. Occasionally, a brilliant fleck would spin off into the trees while others soared back into the cloud.

Around and around the shimmering rainbow went, and, gradually, the swarm passed out from beneath the sunbeams and under the dappled shadows of the forest canopy. The migration took a little over ten minutes.

When the last butterfly finally disappeared from view, Kaito let out an appreciative sigh.

"Didn't I tell you it'd be worth the trouble?"

Shinichi hummed a quiet agreement. "We should be going back though."

"Yeah, yeah. I haven't forgotten." Kaito looked around, his eyebrows rising. Then he scratched at the back of his head. "Where are we anyway?"

Shinichi stared at him. "If that's supposed to be a joke, it's not funny."

"…"

"…"

Kaito coughed lightly. "Just give me a moment. I'm sure I'll be able to see something if I climb one of these trees."

Shinichi watched the magician go with a growing sense of foreboding. Heaving a sigh, he folded his arms and closed his eyes, beginning to visualize their haphazard dash. Maybe he'd be able to recall a useful landmark…

TBC