Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

47: Staggered Steps

The trip hadn't gone as he'd planned, but, in retrospect, Kaito decided he'd call it a success. He had gotten Shinichi to spend time alone with him. Quite a lot of time, in fact, although most of it had been spent running up and down the mountainside after possible butterfly poachers and whatnot. Still, they had had their wow moments too, like their glimpse of the swarm of flying gems. But more importantly, he had gotten Shinichi to open up to him. And Shinichi had done so even knowing that Kaito was Kaitou KID. As far as Kaito was concerned, that meant only one thing. Shinichi trusted him.

"You appear happy," Kuroba Chikage observed as she deftly flipped pancakes on the stove. "Does this have something to do with your young detective friend?"

Kaito smiled. "I guess it does. We should totally go on these trips more often. But next time, I'd like to go without the peanut gallery."

"Am I part of that peanut gallery?" the woman asked, tone light and faintly amused.

"Of course not," he assured her. "You, mother dearest, are always a breath of spring."

His compliment earned him a fondly exasperated smile and a plate full of fluffy, chocolate chip pancakes.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you about Aoko-chan," Chikage said, taking a seat and beginning to cut her pancakes into neat quarters.

"Awouw Aogo?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full. And yes. I am a little concerned."

Kaito swallowed his pancakes. "About what?"

"She seemed nervous during our trip. She insisted it was nothing when I asked her what was wrong, but I know she didn't sleep well the last few days."

"Really?" Kaito grimaced inwardly. He hadn't realized the situation was that bad. He'd never expected Aoko to be so deeply shaken by one inconclusive monster sighting. He'd thought she'd gotten over it after that spate of temper burned away her initial fears. After all, she was far too used to his pranks to be thrown off for long by a mere vision, even if it was a scary one. Or so he'd thought.

He didn't like this one bit. But, after what he'd said, he doubted Aoko would want to talk to him about it any time soon. He would have to keep an eye on her. It was always possible that her unease would abate now that they were back in the city.

"Kaito?" his mother prodded gently.

"I'll talk to her," he promised, digging back into his breakfast. "Don't worry. You know Aoko. She never stays down. She's like her dad that way."

Chikage smiled a little and nodded. She suspected her son knew more than he was letting on, but she trusted his judgment.

"Well then," she said lightly. "You might want to hurry if you don't want to be late."

X

Shinichi wandered into the classroom that morning with his usual thermos of coffee in hand and his head still filled with thoughts of that night at the hot springs and that strange feeling of contentment and safety that lingered even now. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt like that before, and he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. Maybe it was a result of some subconscious acknowledgement that there was someone out there that he could really be completely honest with. That didn't explain the odd, tingly (dare he say almost giggly) feeling that invaded his stomach whenever he remembered that star-spangled sky and the weight of Kaito's arm around his shoulders.

Sighing, Shinichi gave himself a shake and tried again to focus on his reading. Around him, the other students were trickling into their seats, some complaining about Mondays while others speculated about the things they still had to do.

"I haven't finished my math homework," one student was complaining. "It's freaking impossible!"

"I did all of mine. But I don't understand why we have to memorize all those poems. What good is that going to be in the future anyway?"

"I got a thirty percent on my last essay. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong."

"Well, at least you didn't get a zero."

"You got a zero?"

"Yeah. Umaida-sensei said I had to rewrite the whole thing because my essay was off topic."

"That's harsh."

"Well, I did write about the wrong thing, but it was exciting! So I thought he might give me some leeway for that."

"No luck?"

"Nope."

Shinichi listened to his classmates bantering and smiled.

This was what normalcy sounded like. This was real life. Ordinary life. This was the kind of life that people were supposed to have.

It was a life he would never share.

But maybe that wasn't really a bad thing, he reflected. At the beginning, it had felt like a curse—punishment for his mistakes. Now though, it no longer felt like a weight bearing down on him

He had traded away his chance at a normal life for one riddled with shadows, but he had done so in order to protect this very simplicity. And he could accept that. Embrace it, even. It didn't matter if no one understood what he was doing or even knew of his work. What mattered was that he was doing something worthwhile.

That must be how Kaito felt too.

And so he found his thoughts back on the magician.

He wasn't sure why the magician had put so much effort into making friends with him. A normal thief ought to have steered clear of the new detective in class. But Kaito hadn't. He had barged into Shinichi's gray and muted world and started setting off fireworks.

It was kind of overwhelming but…kind of nice too.

"Good morning~," a low voice murmured right into the shell of Shinichi's ear.

The detective jerked away with a startled yelp as his hand flew up to cover said ear. A strong hand catching his shoulder prevented him from falling out of his chair, but it didn't save his backpack from completing the plunge. Unzipped. His school books and papers sloughed across the classroom floor.

Shinichi groaned and smacked himself on the forehead. "Kaito. Can't you say good morning like a normal person?"

"I did," the thief protested, crouching to help Shinichi gather up his things. "I just walked up right beside you. It's not my fault if you didn't notice."

Shinichi grumbled a few more things under his breath about silver tongues and twisty people who got away with doing whatever they wanted because they could talk black into white and vice versa, but Kaito only laughed.

"Sorry about the books. Here." Kaito crouched next to the detective to help him retrieve his things. Indigo eyes immediately spotted the colorful slip of paper lying under Shinichi's desk. The magician picked it up and turned it over.

It was a flyer. The cover was a colorful, abstract piece. The title "The Beika Arts Festival" was printed across it in fancy script.

"What's this?" he asked, showing it to Shinichi.

The detective blinked at the flyer like he was seeing it for the first time before recognition dawned. "Oh yeah, Haibara gave me that. She and the others are putting on a silent play at the festival," he exclaimed. "I almost forgot. Would you want to come? I promised them I'd be there. And they asked me to spread the word."

"A silent play, eh?" Kaito mulled this over then smirked. "Sounds like it could be fun. Who else have you told about it?"

"Well, I was going to ask Hakuba-san and Aoko-san if they wanted to come too."

"Don't bother. They're busy."

Shinichi paused. "Are they going somewhere?"

"They're going on a date," the magician lied without batting an eye. In actuality, he didn't know if either the blonde or Aoko had plans, but he'd fix that as soon as class let out. Then, after school, he would take Shinichi on a date under the pretext of studying together.

X

Kaito almost groaned out loud when he spotted the two familiar figures waiting outside the gates of Ekoda High. It was Satou and Takagi-keiji, and there was only one reason he could think of that they would be waiting here. There went all his afternoon plans. They were lucky he liked them. If they'd been Hakuba, they'd already have found themselves dyed puce. But since he did like them, they were spared.

"Good afternoon, Kudo-kun," Satou greeted the two as they approached. Her gaze shifted to Kaito, and he could all but see her searching her memory for his name. "And Kuroba-kun, right?"

"That's right." Producing a yellow rose with a flourish, he offered it to the policewoman with a grin. "I'm honored that you remember me. Is this about the department store incident?"

The two police officers traded glances. This did not go unnoticed by either the detective or the thief.

"We actually came here to ask Kudo-kun for his help," Takagi said, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck. "One of the employees at a grocery store near here was found dead. The security cameras didn't catch the actual incident, but it did record all the people who went in and out of the store yesterday night when the incident took place."

"Are you talking about the grocery store across from the Mihoshin coffee shop?" Shinichi asked, baffling Kaito. It sounded like a totally random question to him. Unless—

"Yes," Satou confirmed.

"Then I assume you needed to get my testimony?"

"Yes. We need to know if you noticed anything while you were there last night. We're here to take you to the scene," the policewoman replied, going straight to the point.

Kaito bit back a sigh. So he'd guessed correctly. And it just figured that his dear detective would have chosen to go to the grocery store at a time that would make him a potential witness to some crime. He remembered again Koizumi's spiteful words that day, and his jaw clenched momentarily before he reestablished his Poker face. Fate, huh? It seemed rather unfair. Then again, he supposed, if Shinichi wasn't complaining, no one else had the right to. Necessary or not though, Kaito wasn't going to let anything, fate included, stop him from getting what he wanted.

When Kaito made to get into the car behind Shinichi, Takagi reached out a hesitant hand to stop him. "Um, this is a homicide investigation. You really shouldn't concern yourself—"

"I'm going," Kaito cut him off. "I won't be a bother. Promise."

Takagi shivered. Shinichi's friend was smiling at him. For some reason, it was the scariest thing he had ever seen. Considering he was a homicide detective, this was saying something.

"O—oh, uh, I…guess it's okay."

"Just don't get in the way of the investigation," Satou warned, sliding into the driver's seat. "Right, buckle your seatbelts. We have to be there quick before the news vultures start flocking."

And with a screech of tires that sounded like screaming demons begging for mercy, Satou-keiji's FD peeled out of the school parking lot and flew through Ekoda to the grocery store in question.

Kaito found himself ordered to sit in the car and wait as Satou and Takagi showed Shinichi around the 'crime scene' and asked him about what he remembered. Kaito didn't mind though. He doubted Shinichi would need his help for such a simple case. So he sat and watched through the car window, listening to the discussion of the purported crime through the bug he had planted on Shinichi the moment he'd spotted the police officers waiting outside the school.

He was—perhaps unfortunately—not very surprised to hear Shinichi tell the police that it had been murder. The dead man had recently purchased an extremely expensive watch, and he had had a wad of receipts from classy restaurants that suggested he had not only been treating himself to fine cuisine on a daily basis but also going out partying more nights than he stayed home. His extravagant spending habits were definitely not what anyone would expect from a man who worked at a grocery store. Taken in conjunction with the fact that all the photos and videos had been deleted from his phone and the digital camera he apparently always carried pointed rather strongly to the man being a blackmailer. From there, it had merely been a matter of deciphering the odd notations in his planner to find his victims then figuring out which one of them had had the opportunity and means to commit the crime.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Kaito's lips as he listened to Shinichi unravel the code then outline, step by step, the events of the evening that the man had died. No, there was nothing amusing about the fact that someone had been murdered—although Kaito couldn't say he felt particularly sorry for the victim, considering what the man had been up to. It was just that listening to Shinichi reason through the case reminded him of the times Conan had done the same at his heists. The thought inspired a sense of nostalgia.

He had always enjoyed their little challenges, he mused. His Tantei-kun's critical eye always inspired him to reach for new heights, and he would freely admit that many of his best works had been born out of a desire to surprise and amaze the little detective.

Those were simpler times, he mused. But, he thought as he saw Shinichi emerge from the grocery store to stand, blinking, at the brilliance of the late afternoon sun, he didn't regret the way their relationship had changed. Not at all.

Several police officers moved past Shinichi, marching the culprit away in cuffs. Satou and Takagi saw the cuffed man to the waiting squad car before moving to tap Shinichi on the shoulder. Together, the three returned to Satou's car.

"So how did it go?" Kaito asked even though he already knew.

Shinichi gave him a flat stare as he reached under the folded cuffs of his slightly too long uniform sleeves and fished out the tiny listening device with two fingers. He didn't say anything. He only looked pointedly from the bug to Kaito.

The magician couldn't help it. He laughed. With a snap of his fingers, the listening device vanished in a puff of smoke. "Hey, at least I saved you the bother of having to go over everything twice."

"Only you would try to pass off eavesdropping is altruism," Shinichi grumbled, though Kaito could tell that he was more amused than upset. The realization made him grin.

"So would you like us to drop you off at your apartment?" Satou asked.

Shinichi opened his mouth to say yes, but Kaito beat him to the punch.

"Can you drop us off at the ramen shop two blocks down that way?" He leaned over to point over the policewoman's shoulder.

The woman smiled. "Ramen sounds pretty good. Mind if we join you two?"

The magician wasn't the only one caught by surprise by the woman's request. In the passenger seat, Takagi turned to give his partner a questioning look.

"But shouldn't we be going back? We still have to report in to Megure-keibu…"

"We also need to eat dinner. We both skipped our lunch breaks today since we were chasing that kidnapper, if you'll recall. And this would be a good time to go over that."

"That?" Takagi looked confused for a moment longer before something clicked, and he gasped. "Oh, right. I almost forgot."

"Is there something wrong?" Shinichi asked.

Satou cast a brief look over her shoulder at the boys then smirked. "We have some information we think you'll be interested in." But that was all either officer would say on the subject until they pulled up outside the small ramen shop Kaito had singled out.

It was a simple affair with plain, wooden tables and chairs. A ceiling fan spun lazily over their heads, stirring the steam-scented air with the cold drafts exuding from the air conditioner. It was a little early for dinner, but the place still had a decent number of patrons. The police officers and their young charges ended up at a corner table, each with a steaming bowl in front of them.

Shinichi, however, only picked at his noodles. His eyes inching towards the manila folder sitting on the table between the two police officers.

It wasn't until they were almost done with the meal, however, that Satou-keiji broached the subject. "So, you remember that man you asked us to look up for you? Well, we know who he is."

Shinichi leaned forward slightly. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. Though it may be more accurate to say that we know who he was."

There was a moment of silence as Shinichi and Kaito mulled over this information and Takagi opened the folder, sliding it across the table towards them.

"This is the guy, right?"

Shinichi and Kaito bent their heads over the folder. Printed on the first page inside was a photograph. The face was younger, but it was definitely the same man who had bought the Kurobas' hideous antique desk. They both nodded.

"His real name is Nishimiya Takashi," said Satou-keiji. "He came from a long line of spirit mediums and exorcists, if you can believe it. He told fortunes for some very wealthy clients. I believe he helped them make a lot of important decisions—finding auspicious days and locations, pursuing business prospects, and other such issues. His records say he did quite well for himself. Or he did until someone accused him of using the information he gathered from his clients for his own gain—insider trading and that kind of thing. There wasn't enough evidence, and no one would talk, so the case never went to court, but it was still a major blow to his reputation. He disappeared shortly after that."

"So he's not so much hiding from the law as keeping a low profile," Kaito summarized.

"So it seems."

"Did you happen to find any of his contact information?" asked Shinichi.

"We did," Takagi said. "But it was all old. His information hasn't been updated in years."

"Now," Satou said, tone becoming business-like. "I want you to tell us why you're investigating this guy."

Shinichi blinked. Next to him, Kaito affected an air of cluelessness.

"You're looking into this guy for a reason," Satou continued, eyes hard. "And being you, I'm guessing it's dangerous. If you don't tell us what you know, we won't be able to help. So tell us, does this man have something to do with the department store incident?"

Shinichi blinked, slightly surprised. Then again, he supposed he shouldn't be. He had told the police that he had been called to that restaurant to meet a journalist, and Satou and Takagi-keiji knew the names of the people whose properties he had been researching. It wasn't a difficult connection to make.

"Well?" the policewoman prompted.

Shinichi sighed. "It might sound a little…"

"Crazy," Kaito supplied with a lopsided grin.

Satou laughed. "Crazy isn't always wrong. So let's hear it."

X

Aoko hummed to herself as she chopped the green onions she had arrayed upon the counter into neat little segments. She wasn't in the mood for anything heavy tonight, so she had decided to make a simple pork and egg porridge. While she would never claim to be a great chef, cooking was something she enjoyed. It was something she could lose herself in, and it was productive to boot.

She was just in the middle of cracking the eggs into the portage when she heard a loud snap from the living room.

She froze. A cold chill skated up her spine.

She was alone in her house right now. Kaito had called to say that he wouldn't be coming over for dinner like he originally said he would, and her father had said he would be late. Was he early?

There was another loud crack. Or was it a smack?

She couldn't tell. But there was definitely something moving in the living room.

Heart racing, Aoko tiptoed across the kitchen, an egg still cradled in one hand while she grabbed a steel ladle with the other.

The living room was empty. Nothing looked out of place. Or, well, nothing except…

There was a magazine on the edge of the table. It was at the top of a very tall stack, and it was leaning over, the gloss of its pages smoothing its ride. As Aoko stared, the magazine slid a tiny bit more towards the edge then, with a whoosh, it lost the battle to gravity and landed with a loud smack on the floor where several other magazines had apparently already taken the same dive.

The relief that welled up in her was palpable. She choked for an instant before her breaths began coming in large, gasping laughs.

"Honestly, you see one monster and you start jumping at every noise you hear," she admonished herself. "It's time to move on."

It wasn't as though there was any reason for a monster to be stalking her.

Mind made up, she crouched and shuffled the magazines on the floor into a neat pile. Then she rose and placed them in the middle of the table.

It was as she rose, satisfied with her work, that she saw it.

It was outside her window.

Its monstrous face was pressed right up against the glass. And its burning eyes bore straight into her, causing every muscle in her body to freeze.

Her breaths hitched in her throat.

Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard the door open.

Nakamori Ginzo's voice boomed out through the house. "I'm home!"

The face vanished.

Inspector Nakamori was stunned to walk into his living room only to have his daughter launch herself at him. She wrapped her arms tight around his torso like she hadn't done in years and cried into his shirt. He thought at first that someone she knew must have gotten hurt, so he patted her back and told her that everything would be okay. But when she had calmed down slightly, he found himself being treated to not a tale of teenage stupidity but of monsters in the windows and men who summoned demons.

In the ensuing silence, Ginzo could only open his mouth then shut it again, completely at a loss as to what to say. Eventually, he led Aoko into the kitchen, where he fumbled through the cabinets in search of the hot chocolate mix. A few minutes later, he set two steaming mugs down on the table and sat down across from his daughter.

"Now, why don't you start at the beginning?"

TBC

A.N: I know it's been a long time since I updated this, and no, this doesn't mean updates for this are going back to being regular. Sorry about that. But I'm still working on this! Er, anyhow! Thank you for reading. Hope you all have a great week :)