AN: And now, time for another silly oneshot that's been on my mind for awhile (though one with a hint of seriousness here and there). I hope everyone enjoys!
The Witch Speaks of the Past
Characters: Akako, Kaito, Aoko, Hakuba, Conan, Ran, Kazuha, Heiji
Summary: Running a booth at the school festival had not been Akako's idea.
For future reference, the fortune telling booth hadn't been Akako's idea.
She wasn't the least bit surprised when she had returned to school after a day of absence only to realize that what their class had ultimately picked to do for the upcoming school festival was entirely Kaito's idea. Especially when she learned that it was a fortune telling booth, and especially when she learned that he had managed to talk everyone into asking her to do it.
And with the eyes of the entire class on her, she couldn't very well refuse. She was, however, going to pick something a bit more interesting than your run of the mill fortune telling booth. Doubtless there would be any number of those at the school festival, and not only did she know full well that her prophecies were hardly the sort of thing suited for such an event, but she also wanted to do something that would assure that she would stand out.
If she was going to do this, she was going to it right- and in a manner that would leave her competitors in the dust. If there were going to be any number of booths where hacks plied their trade, trying to convince guest that they could part the veils of time, and see into their future, then Akako was going to do something entirely different.
Instead of looking forward, she would look back- back into their past life. For a witch of her talent, it would be simple child's play.
Besides, prying into the past's of random strangers and those she knew well alike always was rather amusing. If only simply for results such as this.
"A horse."
"Yes indeed, a rather magnificent white horse, in fact. Not ridden by a prince though, I'm afraid." Akako cooly observed, keeping her amusement contained within her voice.
"Looks like your name suits you well, Hakuba!" Kaito couldn't help but quip, a wide grin crossing his face, elbowing the high school detective in the shoulder. "Why don't you give us a neigh, horse boy?"
"Come now Kaito, don't be like that!" Aoko said, puffing out her cheeks a little. "Besides, if Hakuba-san was a white horse in his past life, then Aoko bets that you were a cockroach in yours!"
"That would be impossible." Akako noted. "Cockroaches don't have souls. Why don't you lend me your hand then, Kuroba-san, and we can see just what you were up to in your past life?"
"No, I don't think that's really..." Kaito's protest was cut short by Aoko grabbing his hand and all but pinning it down on Akako's table, Hakuba barely moving aside from the chair that she had said out in time to avoid it. "Wait a second, Aoko!"
"You're the one who pressed Hakuba to get his past life read, so you should be willing to do the same, Kaito!" Aoko insisted, before broadly beaming towards Akako. "He's all yours now, Akako!"
"Yes, thank you kindly, Nakamori-san." Casting a slight smile towards her, she carefully took Kaito's hand in her own before he had a chance to slip it away from Aoko's grasp. No doubt such a thing would be simple for the phantom thief known as Kaito Kid. Parting the veils of time and glancing backwards, a coy smile crossed Akako's face as an image was conjured up in her mind's eye. "My, my, Kuroba-san. It seems you had a rather interesting past life yourself. A royal stable hand!"
Shame that he didn't work at the same stable that Hakuba had been kept at- now that would have been terribly amusing.
"And I was probably the best one of the bunch too!" Snatching his hand back away from her, casting her a long look, wondering if she was just making things up, or if she was really seeing something, Kaito turned on his heel, quickly pushing Aoko down into the chair with a smile. "Now then, Aoko, you're the only one among us who hasn't had her past read! Now it's your turn!"
Rather than a feeling of dread, Aoko looked elated, all but offering her hand right up towards Akako, a bright smile on her face. It half made Akako want to mess with her a bit, perhaps making up some kind of lie that was suited for the childish girl- but she was here to do a job, however forced upon her it had been, and she was going to do it correctly. Taking Aoko's hand in her own, Akako carefully glanced back through the veils of time, peeking into the past once more.
And was somewhat surprised with what she found. After all, she wouldn't call Nakamori Aoko graceful, not exactly.
"A ballerina, for a famous Russian company, none the less." Akako observed, her voice smooth as she spoke. "Albeit one who tragically died young. Do take care to avoid such a fate in this life, Nakamori-san."
"Ballet! Aoko's always admired ballerinas!" Aoko's eyes shined at the mention of the sport, happily pulling her hand close to her chest. "And don't worry, Akako! Aoko will take good care of herself in this life, so you don't have to worry about her!"
With a slight blink, Akako vaguely wondered where she had gotten the impression that she had been worried for her- she had merely been telling her what it was that she saw. Well, she paid it no mind. "Well now, now that I've glimpsed into the past of all three of you, it's time for you all to be off. The cultural festival will begin properly soon, so I can't have my classmates cluttering the booth when it does."
With a wave of Akako's hand as her cue, Aoko cheerfully escorted the two boys out of the tent that they had set up in the classroom, leaving Akako alone.
Perhaps Akako's most memorable customers of the day were the young, rather loud Osakan couple, and the child that she recognized as being the one who had earned himself the reputation of the Kid Killer, who entered her tent walking hand in hand with what she could only assume was his babysitter. She briefly wondered if Kaito was aware that Edogawa Conan had shown up at his school, and couldn't help but imagine the rather loud internal screaming she was almost certain that he was doing should he catch wind of such a thing.
"Like I said, there's no point ta all of this!" The dark skinned young man complained, glowering at the ponytailed girl who had all but dragged him in. "This sort of thing is total bunk anyways! Who ever heard of someone readin' into yer past life?"
"Come now, Heiji! There's no need ta be sayin' that still now that yer in here with this beautiful young lady!" The ponytailed girl puffed out her cheeks. "Anyways, I want ta have my past read, an' that's the whole of it, so put up with it!" Taking the seat in front of Akako, the girl beamed broadly at her. "Please excuse him, miss. I'm Toyama Kazuha."
"Toyama-san, is it?" Akako asked, a bright smile crossing her face, as she spared the vaguest of glances up towards the young man that she was with. She couldn't help but notice that her charm all but seemed to bounce right off of him- rather than being immune to it, he flat out just didn't seem to notice it. It wasn't often that she ran into the amazingly dense sort. "Please allow me to see your hand, so that I might read into your past."
Watching out of the corner of her eye as the young man rolled his eyes, casting a glance down towards the bespectacled boy by his side, she half couldn't wait for him to step up to the plate. As Kazuha gave Akako her hand, she carefully took it into her own, peering back into the distant past.
"My, you've had quite the past, Toyama-san." Akako couldn't help but note, a vague hint of a smile appearing on her lips. "A brave, valiant female warrior, who fought any number of difficult enemies and overcame them all. You'll be delighted to know that you lived to a ripe old age as well. There's good luck in your line, it seems."
"Oh, I knew it!" Kazuha couldn't help but beam at the last part, casting a glance up towards the young man, shooting him a satisfied look that Akako couldn't help but find curious. "Thank ya! Now then, Ran-chan, it's yer turn!"
"Ah, yes!" Nodding her head, Ran released her hold on Conan's hand, taking the seat that Kazuha offered to her. "I'm Mouri Ran. Ah, here's my hand." She said, holding it out for Akako to take, which she did with the vaguest of smiles.
And for a moment, as she peered beyond the veil of time, she found her breath almost taken away. Swallowing a little, she forced her expression not to change- because it wasn't often that she crossed paths with one who was nothing short of a unicorn reborn into human form. That would, perhaps, explain the rather odd horn of hair, she couldn't help but think to herself, her gaze briefly flicking up towards it.
But it would be best not to tell her such things. "A baker." Akako lied through her teeth, a placid smile crossing her face as she released her hand, watching the vision slip away from her. "A baker living in a rather charming little village."
"Oh, that sounds real nice, Ran-chan!" Kazuha said, to which the girl herself seemed to agree, blissfully unaware of the truth. "Now then, Heiji, it's yer turn!"
"Like I said, Kazuha, I have no interest in this sort of thing!" Heiji insisted, narrowing his eyes, casting a skeptical glance down towards the girl.
"Oh come on now, we're here anyways, so ya might as well get it done!" Kazuha insisted, taking him by the shoulder and all but forcefully navigating him into the chair, keeping him planted there by fixing her hands on his shoulders. "This one here is Hattori Heiji, an' don't mind half the things that come out of his mouth. He doesn't do an awful lot of thinkin'!"
Grumbling at the faint snicker that he heard from the bespectacled child, Heiji cast a glower back towards him, before rather grumpily presenting Akako his hand. "Come on then, Neesan, ya might as well get yer hack job over an' done with!"
"It's very rude to insult someone and then ask for their services." Akako noted with distaste, carefully taking his hand from him, holding it in her own. Goodness but this one had some rather bad luck, she couldn't help but note, even as she parted the veils of time, glancing backwards- and found herself unable to keep the amused smirk that came as a result off of her face.
"Well, first of all, I must say, congratulations on your very first incarnation as a human, Hattori-san." Akako noted, unable to keep her amusement, likewise, out of her voice. "It's not often that I run into one with such an otherwise unbroken chain such as yourself. You must have gathered up quite a bit of luck to avoid being reincarnated as a dog yet again in this life."
At the bright red color that his face took on, and the way he snatched his wrist back, Akako allowed herself the faintest hint of laughter. Especially as he turned around, glowering at the party behind him. "Like I said, this stuff's fake, fake! An' don't give me that look that says that explains so much! Honestly!"
Getting to his feet, he all but grabbed Conan by the collar, plopping him down in the chair, shoving said chair forward with one foot. "Here ya go. Read this pipsqueak last, if yer gonna be that way."
Watching as the child shot Heiji the dirtiest look she'd ever seen someone his age manage, Akako blinked a little as he finally turned her way. How curious- she almost felt the faintest tug of her charm working, even though this child was far out of the intended age range of such a thing. She had no interest in the affection of children, after all.
"Edogawa Conan." Conan finally introduced herself, shooting Heiji one last dirty look as he gave the fortune teller her hand. Granted, he didn't believe in this sort of thing either- even if all of Heiji's past incarnations being dogs would in fact, explain so much about him. "Here's my hand, onee-san!"
"Thank you kindly, child." Akako said, carefully taking the small hand in her own. She couldn't help but take curious note of the fact that his life line seemed to be somewhat off for a child of his age- it felt as if he had lived a bit longer than he appeared to have. It gave her a rather strange feeling- and it was one that only increased as she attempted to glance into his past.
It was clouded, strangely, by the present in a way that she had not yet seen. She had given her his name as Edogawa Conan, but Edogawa Conan did not have a chain of pasts- but rather, only one, and one that made no sense at that. Certainly, the young man in her vision seemed to have tragically died, but it didn't feel nearly long enough ago for him to have reincarnated as a seven year old boy.
How curious. How very very curious.
"A detective." Akako said finally, giving him a smile as she released his hand. "In your past life, you were a detective, and quite a clever one at that, child. Not clever enough, mind you, to avoid getting yourself killed, so do take care not to do as such in this life."
The long, considering look that the child cast her way was something that she found rather strange as well. It passed quickly however, replaced by a rather bright smile.
"Don't worry, onee-san!" Conan brightly chirped, masking his true feelings underneath the childish expression. Perhaps this one wasn't so much of a fraud after all, and he dared not look back towards Ran, hoping that this didn't rouse any kind of suspicion within her. "I'll make sure that I don't!"