Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed or D.N Angel.
Summary: Meeting with witches and getting kidnapped by artwork definitely hadn't been part of the plan. D.N Angel crossover
Pairings: Kaito x Shinichi (DC) and Daisuke x Riku (DNA)
WARNINGS: Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned
An Eternal Art
By V. Shalyr
II
The Art of Performance
Crimson eyes snapped open in the darkness of his room as the room's single occupant shot bolt upright in bed.
/Daisuke, did you feel that?/
The redhead frowned, turning to peer out the glass door of his balcony. "I think so, but what was it?"
In the back of his mind, he could feel Dark frown. /I don't know, but I think we should check it out./
"I guess we don't really have a choice. Whatever it was, it could be dangerous. Let's try to make this quick though, okay? I still have school tomorrow."
If someone had chanced to look through the balcony doors then, they would have seen a flicker in the darkness as short, messy, red hair darkened into violet and grew longer to frame an older, suddenly more angular face. Moments later, Phantom Thief Dark slipped onto the balcony and launched himself into the night sky on silent, black-feathered wings.
"Don't worry. This shouldn't take long."
Retracing the source of the disturbance, the thief soon found himself at one of the city's several art museums. Powerful magic had been at work here, he could feel it. What ever it had been, however, it was long gone now.
"Strange," he mused aloud, running his hand along the stone wall beside the door leading out onto the tower roof, "it feels new."
/New?/ Daisuke repeated, peering out through their shared eyes. /What do you mean?/
"Well, most really powerful artworks have quite long histories. You must have noticed by now. But this one, it feels—young, but also different somehow. I wonder what happened here. Hey, Daisuke, do you remember what exhibits are being shown in this museum right now?"
/Well… There are those aquatic landscape paintings, the deity paintings that got donated to the museum last week, and that new fairytale exhibit./
"Gods and fairytales, huh? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen all right."
/Why do you say that?/
"Think about it. Gods and fairytales—all the concentration of people's beliefs and hopes and dreams, all mixed up and captured on canvas."
/But those are all good things, aren't they?/
"That would depend on the artist."
The redhead was silent for a moment longer, mulling this over. From experience, he had to agree. Even the best of dreams could be made into nightmares in the wrong hands. /So what should we do?/
"For the moment, nothing. Whatever was happening here, it's over now. Weren't you and Riku thinking about visiting this museum this weekend?"
Dark felt a ripple of embarrassment from his host at the mention of his girlfriend and grinned.
/Stop laughing,/ Daisuke protested, /and yes, actually, we were./
"Good. In that case, we can look into the paintings then—provided there aren't any other disturbances."
In the darkness of the gallery beneath his feet, the figure of a woman with flowing silver hair mostly obscuring her face almost seemed to glow against the canvas of her painting. Yes, she had hoped that he would come. The phantom thief was, after all, quite famous in the art world and she'd wanted a look at his abilities just in case. All the pieces were falling into place.
.
"Have you heard?" Saehara Takeshi, their resident aspiring reporter and Daisuke's longtime friend, slammed his hands down on the redhead's desk in uncontained excitement. "Our class has been selected to participate along with a few others in a new drama program in preparation for the summer arts festival!"
Struggling to stifle a yawn, Daisuke peered at the flyer pinned between Takeshi's palm and the tabletop. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Takeshi rolled his eyes. "Jeez, weren't you listening? They're replacing our last period classes with a drama class. We're going to have a new teacher and everything. He's supposed to be really good. I heard that when he showed up for his interview with the principal, he did some pretty crazy things."
"Crazy things? Like what?"
"Like making things appear out of nowhere, I bet."
The two boys turned as a girl with shoulder-length, light brown hair dropped into the chair next to Daisuke's. She propped her elbow on the desk and scowled.
"Miss Riku?" Daisuke asked, worried by the dark cloud over her face. He liked it better when she smiled.
"I think we met him on our way here," Riku said, jerking her head towards her sister who was staring a little dreamily out of the classroom window. "He gave Risa a rose, made it appear out of nowhere like magic."
"You didn't like him?"
Riku sighed. "No, it's not that. Actually, he acted like a real gentleman, really polite—asked us the way to school. It's just Risa... Why does she always have to be so fickle?"
She trailed off into grumbles, scowling at the back of her sister's head. Really, Risa worried her so much sometimes. It was like somewhere along the way, twins though they were, Riku had grown up and Risa hadn't. Really, still believing in fairytales and fantasies… Not, Riku amended to herself, glancing sidelong at Daisuke, she supposed that fairytales couldn't come true in a small way now and then. Still, that didn't mean you didn't have to face up to reality.
"Oh." Daisuke followed the direction of her gaze, increasingly curious about what the new teacher was going to be like.
.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Kaito glared at the silver-haired woman standing behind him in the mirror as he adjusted his coat. Why his new office even had such a large mirror, he had no idea. But then everything in this city seemed to have been constructed with aesthetics in mind. It reminded him of older cities, places with more history from back when everything was made by hand. As an ex-jewel thief, it would have been rather enjoyable if he hadn't been trapped there. As an ex-jewel thief, the word "trapped" was definitely way low down on his list of acceptable circumstances.
"Living—while I look for a way to get rid of you."
And get home.
"Get rid of me?" The woman arched a single, delicate eyebrow in open amusement. "A mere human would never be able to get rid of me."
"And yet you said yourself that you needed me," Kaito pointed out, a shark's grin flashing across his face before he schooled it once more into an expression suitable for a new school teacher. "I'm good at surprising people. You might even say that it's my job."
Ignoring the flicker of a scowl that crossed her face—which didn't mean he hadn't noticed—Kaito turned off the light and left his office, whistling cheerfully just to annoy her.
Time to meet his new students. Hmm, he wondered what Hakuba would say if he knew Kaito was going to be teaching anyone anything. The British detective would probably be quite horrified.
Smirking at the thought, Kaito made his entrance into the classroom in a flurry of white wings and silver glitter.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! My name is Kuroba Kaito and we're going to have a lot of fun for the next couple weeks."
With that said, Kaito proceeded to leave a completely unforgettable first impression. They had never met a teacher quite like him—loud, lively, lighthearted, and almost silly.
He started by ordering them all out of their chairs and shunting all the furniture to the sides of the room. And then it was time to begin the performance, because what better way to teach about performance than to perform while he was at it?
"I would like each of you to put something of yours on this table," Kaito announced, dragging a single desk into the middle of the room. "It can be anything—a spare article of clothing, jewelry, other accessories, a writing implement, a book—anything at all. Don't worry, you'll get everything back at the end of class."
After the students had complied, he glanced over the various objects and smiled. Hats, scarves, a watch, different books—not as eccentric a collection as he might have liked, but they would do. "Good, now this is what we're going to do. Stand in a circle everyone. We're going to go around and each time it's your turn, you have to pick one of these objects here and try to imagine a character that you think that object could belong to and walk around the circle once, moving in a way that exhibits that person. Call it a character study. Here, as an example, I'll go first."
Selecting a plain looking notebook from the pile, he let it fall open and hunched his shoulders a little, peering so closely at it his nose was almost brushing the page. Stooping, he began to shuffle around the circle, pausing now and then to squint at a student from beneath furrowed, suspicious brows then pretending to jot down notes with an invisible pencil. Amidst stifled giggles, he made a circuit of the room then straightened, placed the notebook back on the desk, and sauntered over to join the circle. Turning back to face the students, he nudged the girl standing to his right.
"Your turn!"
The girl—Riku as it turned out—hesitated then walked into the center of the circle and stared at the pile of miscellaneous things. Shrugging, she picked up a watch and slid it on. Then she proceeded to don an annoyed look—one she was well used to from waiting for Risa when she was dressing herself up for the day—and began her walk around the room, pausing to stamp her feet now and then, glowering at the watch and staring around as though searching for something or someone.
"That was pretty good," Kaito said encouragingly when she returned to stand beside him once more. "Next!"
.
When the bell signaling the end of school finally rang, everyone collected their things and headed out amidst a buzz of excited conversation and laughter.
Riku waited for Daisuke to finish repacking his bag and join her at the door before starting towards home.
"That was actually pretty fun," she mused. "Much more interesting than normal classes."
Daisuke smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, but it was so embarrassing."
"I thought you were pretty good."
"Really? I had no idea what I was doing."
Riku grinned. "Yeah, but you made everyone laugh. It means people enjoyed it."
"I suppose you're right."
His mother was in the living room when he got home, pouring over some old books and newspaper clippings. She seemed slightly preoccupied by something, but greeted him warmly nonetheless as he made his way towards the stairs up to his room.
"Welcome back, dear, how was your day?"
Daisuke paused with his hand on the railing. "Pretty good. We have a new teacher. He's running the new drama program."
"Really? What's he like?"
"Well," Daisuke said slowly, "He's…kind of unusual. But I think I like him."
.
By the time the weekend rolled around, everyone was ready for a break. Daisuke woke up bright and early and excited because he and a few classmates were going to the museum together today and Riku was going to be there. They had made plans to go out for lunch together afterwards, and Daisuke was still trying to figure out where they should go. He wanted to make it something special. They hadn't really had time to do anything fun together since that school outing when they'd discovered that they liked one another. It was a new kind of feeling, giddy but also peaceful and happy, and it made him smile every time he thought about it.
/Don't forget that we're supposed to keep an eye out for anything strange at the museum too,/ Dark's teasing voice echoed in his mind.
"I know," Daisuke assured him, pausing to gaze out the balcony door at the Harada mansion not too far away before hurtling downstairs. "Mom, I'm going out! Be back by dinner time."
"Okay, but don't forget—you have a heist tonight!"
"What?" Skidding to a halt just before he reached the front door, Daisuke jerked his head around towards his mother. "Since when?"
"We sent the notice to the newspapers this morning."
"But, Mom—!"
"No buts, dear, you know it's important for us to keep on top of things. And your grandfather's really worried about this one. You'll be stealing the Eye of Dreams from the Modera Art Museum."
"The Modera? But that's where we're going now."
"I know," she replied cheerfully, "so don't forget to check it out while you're there."
"I guess." Sighing in defeat, Daisuke grabbed his jacket and continued out the door. Of course he understood why they had to take these artworks—so they could seal away the potentially harmful power of them. But that didn't mean he enjoyed it. There were just times when he really wished he'd been born into a different family, one not full of thieves.
/Hey, I wonder if I should feel insulted./
"But you like being a thief."
/So?/
"So it's different."
/Because I know how to have fun./
Daisuke would have protested, but they were interrupted by Saehara, who came rushing down the street towards him waving his camera. "Daisuke, you won't believe what I just saw!"
He stumbled to a halt beside his friend, hunched over to brace himself on his knees, panting for breath.
"Are you okay?"
Ignoring the question, Saehara brandished his camera under his nose. "I saw a swan fly over my house and it was bloody huge! It must have had a wing span of at least fourteen feet! That's almost twice as big as a normal swan. And get this—it had silver wings!"
"Are you sure you didn't imagine it?"
"Of course I'm sure! I even got some pictures. I'll prove it once I get them developed."
By the time they reached the plaza before the museum, it was midmorning and the streets were full of people intent on making the most of their two days of vacation before the week began once more.
"Miss Riku! Miss Harada!"
Riku looked up from the museum pamphlets in her hands and waved. "Hey! About time. You guys are late."
"We were starting to worry that you'd forgotten," Risa agreed, leaping to her feet from where she'd been sitting on one of the benches on the sides of the plaza. "Let's go! Oh, I hope it's not too crowded in there already."
"The exhibits aren't going to run away," Riku reminded her. "They're hosting these new artist galleries from now until the arts festival."
"So do you know which exhibits you want to see first?" Daisuke asked, joining them.
"The fairytale paintings!" Risa exclaimed without hesitation. "All the girls at school are talking about them."
"Yeah?"
"They're supposed to be pretty cool," Riku explained, falling into step beside him as they followed Risa up the museum steps. "Supposedly, the artist took a bunch of scenes from famous stories and painted them, but each one a little different. The most famous one is supposed to be this painting of Swan Lake."
"I heard that the paintings are haunted," Saehara cut in, always ready with the latest gossip as well as the latest news. "Did you know that the artist actually committed suicide? Her brother found her dead in her apartment when he went to visit her. Then a few days later, her paintings turned up at the museum."
Daisuke frowned, an odd tingle running down his spine as they stepped across the museum threshold. "Maybe her brother sent them? I mean, if they were his sister's last works or something, I bet he'd want people to see them."
"Maybe," Saehara said darkly, relishing the eeriness of the tale, "but that's not what everyone's saying."
"Well, people can be silly," Riku said firmly. "There's no such thing as ghosts."
"You're probably right," Daisuke laughed, though he couldn't help but feel somewhat uneasy. He'd seen too many strange things not to believe in the possibility of ghosts.
"Hey!" The three of them jumped and looked around. Risa was already way ahead of them and was waving impatiently in their direction, pouting. "Are you three coming or not?"
They had almost made it to the fairytale exhibit when Daisuke spotted something that made him groan inwardly. It was a sign beside the wide, marble staircase leading to the museum's second floor, upon which he could read the words "Eye of Dreams". He had promised his mother.
"Guys, I need to go check something out, okay? Be back in a minute. You can go on ahead."
And before any of his confused companions could say anything, he was away and up the stairs.
All the new exhibits were on the first floor so the second floor was significantly less crowded. Making his way silently and quickly through the various galleries, Daisuke scanned the various signs and labels until he came at last to a small room at the far end of a hall lined with bronze sculptures. The object of his next heist stood on a black velvet stand, a small statuette of burnished silver like an owl with its wings outspread to embrace a gleaming, deep violet stone. He could hear the rumble of people downstairs and the ringing of the bell tower in the distance tolling ten o' clock in the morning, but this room seemed almost surrealistically quiet.
"A very beautiful amethyst, isn't it? Quite high quality."
And apparently, he wasn't as alone as he'd thought. Glancing around, Daisuke found himself looking up at the new teacher. That's odd, he hadn't even heard him walk up next to him.
"Kuroba-sensei?"
The young man smiled, nodding. "Yup, at least I was last time I checked. Niwa-kun, wasn't it? Are you here because of the heist notice too?"
Daisuke started nervously. "Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that."
"Hmm." Nodding absentmindedly, Kaito moved in a slow circle around the display case, examining it with keen, indigo eyes. "I was quite surprised when I saw the notice in the papers this morning. Phantom Thief Dark, huh? I take it he's quite well known around here? There were some other people here earlier too, reporters, fans, and the like."
"Yeah," Daisuke said, hoping he didn't look as uncomfortable as he felt. "I'm surprised you hadn't heard of him."
"I only just moved here a bit more than a week ago," Kaito replied with a shrug. "I've always been interested in these things though—thieves, detectives, that sort of thing. He's an art thief?"
At Daisuke's nodded, Kaito hummed thoughtfully to himself. "And yet none of the things he steals ever turn up on the black market or anything. I wonder why he steals. And what's so interesting about this particular work of art? The Eye of Dreams, said to make those who stare into it too long see illusions of their deepest desires… I wonder if it's true."
"If it is, should you really be looking at it so closely?" Daisuke asked, suddenly worried. If his grandfather was worried about this one, then the story about it was probably true.
The teacher laughed and straightened up. "I guess you're right. So, are you here by yourself?"
Riku's brow furrowed a little as she watched Daisuke go. She couldn't help but wonder where he was always rushing off to. Well really, she had her suspicions, but she didn't really like to dwell on them. She hadn't really made up her mind what she thought about them yet.
"Oh, Riku, look at this one!"
Risa grabbed her sister and pulled her over to one of the larger paintings set in an ornate, wooden frame. Stopping in front of it, the long-haired twin peered up at the artwork with awe. "Isn't it romantic?"
"It's just some woman sleeping," Riku pointed out, unimpressed.
"Well, yes, but isn't it beautiful with the moonlight coming through the window and everything? And there's that shadow on the balcony, like her prince is about to come in and wake her with a kiss!"
Risa's wild imagination never failed to amaze her. Though Riku had to admit that the artist had been quite talented and the painting was indeed very beautiful, she didn't like that shadow on the balcony. It made her feel strangely cold when she looked at it.
"Come on, let's go see what else there is," she said quickly, taking her sister's hand and marching away down the gallery.
Behind them upon the painted balcony, the shadow seemed to grow darker for just an instant. But it could have been just a trick of the light.
Back downstairs, Daisuke suddenly shivered. This feeling, it was just like that night. "Dark?"
/Yeah, it's here all right. So the fairytale exhibit it is. Strange though, I can't seem to pinpoint which painting it's coming from./
"You—you don't think they really are haunted, do you?"
/…I don't know, but it feels—different. There's definitely something up with these paintings. Perhaps we should talk with your father about this later./
The redhead made a sound of agreement and hastened to look for his friends, hurrying right past the painting of a woman in white with barely a glance.
.
Dark chuckled, tucking the small statuette into a pouch for safe keeping on his way out of the museum. That had just been too easy, and it made him wonder when Satoshi would be back in town. By the time the police made it up here, he'd be long gone.
And yet…
When he got there, there was someone else on the roof.
"So you're Dark."
The man standing balanced upon the railing was dressed from head to toe in white—a white suit, white gloves, a white top hat, and even a snowy cape that billowed gently in the breeze.
Dark raised an eyebrow, his own smile firmly in place. "You know my name, but I'm afraid I have no idea who I'm addressing."
The man tugged his hat lower over his face and grinned, a flash of white beneath the glint of his monocle. "Back where I'm from, I'm fairly well known as a phantom thief too. As for a name… 1412 will do."
Dark raised an eyebrow at that. 1412? What kind of name was that? Some kind of code for something?
"Another phantom thief, huh? I can't say I've ever heard of you."
"I'm not surprised. You could say that I'm a long way from home."
"So what brings you here then?"
Down below, they could hear people shouting and the sound of police sirens, but it all sounded so far away.
The other thief shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets as he glanced out across the city. "A question I suppose, about art and about magic."
Violet eyes narrowed, considering. "Sounds like you already know quite a lot."
"A confirmation then."
"Is that so? Well then, whatever your reasons are, I'd better warn you—the power of artwork shouldn't be tampered with. It causes a lot more grief than it could ever cure. If I were you, I'd keep my distance. And if you don't… Well, our paths may cross again sooner than you'd like."
"My reasons," the caped figure mused, sounding wistful. "Much as I'd like to heed your advice, I'm afraid I can't. My reasons are too important for me to just let them go because things are going to be risky."
"Even if it could cost you your life? Your sanity?"
"Is it worth that risk to find a way home? I'd say so. As for my sanity, most people who know me would probably tell you that I don't have any left to lose."
The two thieves stood for a moment in silence, regarding one another with equal parts wariness and curiosity.
Then Dark grinned and leapt up onto the railing beside him. "In that case, I'm sure we'll meet again. But for now, I have a bit of a schedule to keep."
And he was gone, falling away into the night only to catch himself on a pair of black feathered wings.
Kaito watched him go with a contemplative expression on his shadowed face. If it was an artwork that had gotten him here, perhaps a different artwork would send him back.
Perhaps it was time to slip back into the role he'd discarded back in his own world and introduce this city to a very different kind of phantom thief. The thought made his grin widen, and he found himself incredibly glad that he'd brought his KID gear with him on that escort mission—after all, one could never be too prepared, and KID had to be prepared for anything. And no matter what world he was in, he would never settle for being second best.
TBC…
AN: Wow, the DNA characters are really hard to write. It's always so hard to tell who I'm going to have an easy time working with until I've started.
And for anyone who might be wondering, Shinichi will be arriving in the next chapter.