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)
An Eternal Art
By V. Shalyr
VIII
The Princess and the Servant Girl
Handing in the report for his latest case, Shinichi glanced at the office clock. It was Friday, which was good seeing as it had been difficult to really get any work done with Kaito checking in on him every hour. The magician hadn't wanted to let him out of his sight since the whole curse incident and, all considered, Shinichi was more than happy to let him fuss.
"Weekend plans?" Ishikawa asked knowingly, noting the slight smile on the other detective's face. He'd seen the young man and his companion together often enough to know they were more than just close friends.
"Ah, you could say that." Shinichi didn't know what plans they were exactly, but then that was Kaito for you. "It's not a problem if I leave early today, is it?"
"I don't think so."
"Good, then I'll see you Monday."
He had to get home and change before Kaito got home and decided to pick his clothes for him.
.
"Does Kuroba-sensei seem different today to you?"
Riku glanced up from the copy of the script she was looking over and gave her sister a curious look. "What do you mean?"
Risa was frowning, her lips pursed as she watched their teacher from across the room. "It's hard to say for sure. He just seems…I don't know, distracted maybe."
"He has been making a lot of phone calls," Saehara observed, dragging his desk over to join them. "Who do you think he's calling?"
Riku shrugged, going back to trying to memorize her lines. "Could be anyone. It's not really any of our business."
"You're not curious at all?"
"As I said, it's none of our business." Besides, she had a feeling she knew who Kuroba-sensei was calling.
"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" Risa asked suddenly.
Riku choked. "What? Why would you say that?"
"Well," Risa said in all seriousness, "he seems really happy and he keeps checking the time. And he didn't give Matsuda-sensei a flower before she left like he usually does, so maybe he's thinking about someone special."
"Honestly, you always notice the weirdest things."
"So I'm right?"
"What? No! I mean—oh, I don't know. I really don't think we should be talking about this."
"I suppose," Risa conceded a little reluctantly, glancing back down at her own script. But she couldn't bring herself to just let the matter go. She was curious and, really, what was so wrong with that? It was stranger in her opinion that her sister wasn't curious.
"I say we follow him after class today," Saehara whispered, keeping his voice low so as not to attract unwanted attention. He held up his camera and grinned. "You want to know who it is, right?"
Risa considered this for a moment then smiled and nodded. Yes, she definitely did.
And so when Kuroba-sensei dismissed them for the day, the two packed their things slowly and followed all the other students out into the hallway only to linger in an empty classroom a few doors down. They didn't have to wait long before they caught sight of their drama teacher striding past them down the corridor towards the front door. Exchanging significant looks, they crept out and followed. Out through the school gates and into the streets, across one of the city's many bridges until—until they turned a corner and Kuroba-sensei was just gone.
"But this is a dead end," Saehara said, incredulous. "Where did he go?"
.
Kaito dropped down onto the balcony of their apartment, picked the lock and slipped inside. He'd decided to take the fast way home across the rooftops, taking care that no one saw him. It looked like he'd arrived right on time too. He could hear Shinichi moving about the kitchen. Shutting the balcony door behind him, he moved silently across the bedroom and through the open door, a shark's grin plastered across his face.
Shinichi jumped when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his waist from behind, almost dropping the spoon he'd been using to stir his coffee. "Kaito! How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me like that?"
Kaito chuckled. "Probably more times than you can count. Master thief talking here, remember? Old habits die hard."
"Clearly," Shinichi said dryly, but he was smiling.
"Speaking of habits," Kaito started, taking a step back and handing Shinichi a crimson rose with a flourish, "it seems I've discovered some new skills."
The detective accepted the flower and raised an eyebrow. "Seems like an old skill to me."
"Ah, but that's because you think I had it up my sleeve, so to speak."
"You didn't?"
"Nope. It was magic, real magic." At Shinichi's skeptical frown, Kaito held up his hand. "Pick a color, any color that roses normally don't come in."
"Green."
The magician snapped his fingers and conjured up another rose—with jade green petals? Shinichi stared. Carefully taking the flower from Kaito, he examined it from stem to flower, his mouth falling open slightly in surprise. It was real.
"You didn't dye it or anything, did you?"
"Of course not. Why in the world would I want a green rose?"
Shinichi shook his head. "I wonder if I should be scared at what this world is doing to you."
Catching the slightly haunted worry that flickered across his partner's face at that, Kaito took the green flower from him and put it on the counter before leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to his lips. "It won't matter as long as I'm still me, right? And you do a great job of making sure of that. Come on, I'd say it's about time we had a bit of a break."
.
Sometimes, it seemed as though sooner or later, people always ended up at the park. After wandering fruitlessly around the city for almost an hour, Risa finally plopped down onto a park bench with a groan. Her feet were getting sore and they still hadn't seen even one hair of their teacher.
"I still can't believe we lost him," Saehara grumbled, peering around at the many other people at the park as though by looking hard enough, their teacher would magically appear before them. "We've looked everywhere. We must just keep missing them."
"Maybe we should just stop," Risa sighed. Her feet were really killing her. Riku had always been the outdoors person, not her. All the walking had pretty much killed her curiosity.
"A good reporter never gives up!"
"Well in that case, you can continue looking yourself. I'm going home and getting a nice, long bath."
And then something to eat. A cold drink sounded extremely attractive at the moment.
With this in mind, Risa forced herself back to her feet and started towards home. Riku probably wouldn't be back yet. She and Daisuke had made plans to go—Risa couldn't remember where. It hadn't seemed important at the time. They'd invited her too but it didn't seem right somehow.
And of course, when you weren't looking for something, it always had a tendency to show up.
Walking past a water fountain downtown, Risa glimpsed a familiar head of disheveled brown hair. Startled from her thoughts, she quickly ducked down behind the fountain, peering through the veil of falling water at the outdoor collection of tables and chairs. Kuroba-sensei was there with someone, but it didn't appear to be a girl. Hold on, wasn't that that new detective that had been with Kuroba-sensei the other day? What had his name been again? She was pretty sure Saehara had mentioned him in before; the aspiring reporter was always the first with the latest news as well as the latest gossip. Kudou Shinichi, yes that was it.
The pair was sitting at the table with several plates before them. It looked like they were partway through a meal. Kuroba-sensei was laughing at something and his companion looked like he was trying to hide in his coffee mug, a dusting of pink across his cheeks evidence of his embarrassment. Kudou-san mumbled something and Kuroba-sensei smirked, leaning across the table to tuck a lock of hair behind the detective's ear.
So Kuroba-sensei hadn't been meeting his girlfriend after all. He'd been meeting his boyfriend. Or maybe that wasn't the right word anymore either; they acted like they had been together for a very long time. The way they interacted with one another spoke of great familiarity, and while she might not have been the brightest person about most things, she was good about things like this—or at least she'd begun to learn to be.
Risa sighed, folding her arms on top of the fountain rim and resting her chin atop them. Brown eyes stared into the rippling waters of the fountain.
It seemed like everyone was getting a special person except her. Kuroba-sensei and Kudou-san obviously loved each other very much, and she'd seen the way Daisuke and Riku looked at one another these days. She wasn't jealous. No, she wasn't really that kind of person. Everyone deserved to be happy. But it did make her feel a bit sad, or maybe a bit lonely. She didn't even have her twin to herself anymore.
Sometimes… Sometimes she just wished that she could have her own story too. That she could have someone special who would give her flowers and want to spend time with just her, someone who would look that happy just because of her.
Like with most water fountains, there were coins scattered all across the bottom of this one. Deciding it couldn't hurt, Risa dug a coin out of her pocket and flipped it, watching it plunk into the water with a tiny splash. And then she stood and continued on her way home.
Behind her, the waters of the fountain continued to fall, cascading from the outspread wings of a pair of swans carved of marble white stone.
.
Kaito had done a lot of exploring in his month alone in their new world. In that time, he had formed a pretty decent mental map of the entire city and picked out favorite spots, interesting haunts, good restaurants, as well as places that reminded him more of home. The last had been very important during those long four weeks.
Now, however, all that exploring was called upon to serve a different purpose. The evening found the two of them lying on the roof of an old church with an excellent view of the sunset out on the distant line of the sea. A warm breeze was still blowing and the stars were just beginning to show.
"This really is an amazing city," Shinichi mused, his arms folded behind his head. "It's like every building, every street, every fountain—every piece of architecture is a serious work of art. It's a real pity we don't have as much of that anymore in our cities, not in the same way anyway."
"Mm, true, though we have the advantage of knowing that our houses aren't going to come to life and eat us one day."
Shinichi grimaced. "Sometimes, your sense of humor is terrible."
"Unique," Kaito corrected smugly, "and that's just one reason you love me."
"Maybe, but I have to wonder why."
The magician chuckled then sighed. "Niwa-kun left a message for us the other day. It looks like they've managed to seal off the Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty paintings, but it's only temporary. The magic in them was exhausted by us "winning" in those stories. But they're going to get strong again if we don't do something."
"Like what?"
"Don't know." Kaito sat up, propping his elbows on his knees. "How many paintings does that leave in the set anyway?"
"Two, One Fateful Wish and Swan Lake."
"I don't remember the first one."
Shinichi closed his eyes, trying to picture the painting. He'd had ample time to study them all when he'd gone to return the painting KID had stolen on his first heist in this world. "I think it had two people in it standing on a bridge—or was it the same person mirrored? Yes, I think it was the same woman but mirrored and one was dressed really lavishly while the other wasn't. I think there might have been a man in it too, waiting for them."
Kaito hummed thoughtfully. "So it's going to be that story, huh?"
"What story?"
"My best guess? Cinderella."
The detective turned this revelation over in his head then sighed. "I can't wait until we get home."
"It's sad, you know? It might have been interesting to just live here for awhile—you know, if we had a choice and weren't just here because a crazy artwork is essentially keeping us prisoner."
"The only cell you couldn't open," Shinichi mused, though the humor didn't reach his eyes.
Kaito cast him an offended look. "There's no such thing, Shin-chan, you should know that by now. All prisons have a door and all doors have some way of opening them. Eventually, I'll always find a way."
Once upon a time, Shinichi might have remarked upon his arrogance—his confidence, Kaito would have called it. But after knowing the magician for so many years, that all consuming confidence had become oddly comforting, just another aspect of the collection of qualities that made Kaito who he was. He was probably one of the only people in the world who could get away with it and still be charming.
Most of the time.
"So… How exactly are we getting home from here?"
.
Several students had made plans to work on memorizing and speaking their lines that weekend and Risa still couldn't seem to find her copy of the script. She really hoped she hadn't lost it. It wasn't like they could just buy another one since Kuroba-sensei and some of her classmates had put it together themselves. Though she supposed she could make a copy of Riku's.
"Riku? Riku!"
Her sister appeared in the doorway of her bedroom, already fully dressed and frowning. "You're still not ready? We're going to be late if you don't hurry."
Risa made a face. "I know but I can't find my script."
"I have it," Riku said matter-of-factly. "You gave it to me last night so you wouldn't forget it, remember?"
Apparently not.
A few minutes later, the two finally made it out the front door and towards the park where everyone had agreed to meet. It had a good amount of space to move around in and they were unlikely to disturb anyone. After a brief meeting, they spread out across the wide expanse of grass to work. Risa and several others were taking the roles of the swans and had some dance steps to start learning and choreographing, but first everyone had to be familiar with their parts.
Picking a spot close to the trees on one side of the park, Risa put her script on the ground and scrunched up her face, trying to remember what she was supposed to say during the introduction scene. She had volunteered to do the opening for the play because she loved the stage set up. It hadn't occurred to her that it meant so many additional lines, but all the same, she was determined to do it well. She had spent so long last night memorizing it and all that energy simply had to have yielded some results!
"Okay, you can do this," she whispered and straightened up. "Oh, you heard my song? It's been such a long time since anyone has been able to hear me sing. You see," she let her voice drop, "I'm under a curse. Actually, it's my second one. It sure seems silly, doesn't it? Getting freed from one curse only to get caught by another one. But then you aren't supposed to have a choice when it comes to curses, especially when you're going to be a part of history—not the boring kind of history either. I'm sure you understand…"
She trailed off, her forehead creasing. What had come next? Perhaps it would help her remember if she closed her eyes. With her eyes shut, she turned her face towards the breeze and took a deep breath before continuing. It went fairly smoothly after that, at least in her opinion. Well, smoothly at least in that she only hesitated a few times before remembering the right words again. It was actually a little easier than she'd expected since Kuroba-sensei had said they were free to edit their lines a little bit so that they could say them more naturally. That was part of good acting.
By the time she reached the end of her first recitation, Risa could hardly keep the smile off her face until she was done—smiling wasn't appropriate to this scene. "…And as all such stories have to begin, once upon a time…"
Opening her eyes, Risa snatched up her script, scanned it, and squealed in delight. Yes! She hadn't missed a single line.
She was so caught up in her own sense of accomplishment that it took her a few moments to realize that someone was clapping. With a gasp of surprise, she spun around to find a boy sitting with his back against a tree, applauding her with a wide smile.
"That was really excellent. Are you practicing for a performance?"
"Um, for a school play." Risa wasn't sure why she felt suddenly so shy. She'd never really been a shy person by nature.
Dappled sunlight fell upon silver hair as the boy cocked his head to one side, examining her with curiosity. "Is that so? That sounds like a lot of fun. What play is it?"
"We decided on a version of the Swan Princess, but I think our teacher is still trying to decide on a name for our production."
"I thought I was pretty familiar with most versions of that story, but I've never heard that opening you were just performing before."
He seemed genuinely interested and Risa found herself smiling back at him. "That's because our class decided to rewrite it a little. Would you like to see the script?"
.
The best thing about weekends where he had no work and Kaito had no urgent plans was that Shinichi got to sleep in. And as long as he made sure there was food available, he didn't have to worry about Kaito trying to cook breakfast and burning the house down around them. The problem with Kaito and cooking was that he couldn't seem to keep from experimenting and then he'd get carried away and everything would go downhill from there. He did occasionally come up with stuff that was actually good as well as edible, but Shinichi preferred not to take those chances with their health.
He listened with half an ear as Kaito moved about their apartment, whistling. The magician was definitely feeling cheerful today. Stifling a yawn, Shinichi snuggled deeper into the warm blankets, fully intending on going right back to sleep. Until Kaito suddenly went still and the whistling abruptly stopped
Forcing his eyes open, he peered blearily towards the door to the living room where he was pretty sure Kaito was. "Kaito?"
There was a moment more of silence then he felt rather than heard Kaito come back into their bedroom. "Something's happening. It's very faint but it's definitely there."
It took a moment for Shinichi's sleep-hazed brain to register what he had just said then he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Where?"
Kaito hesitated, his gaze going unfocused for a moment before he shook his head. "I can't tell. It's like it's coming faintly from everywhere. Maybe Swan-san is getting better at throwing me off. Either that or she's trying a different approach."
"Just what we needed," Shinichi sighed. "And I was hoping for a relaxing weekend."
"Well, no need to start fretting yet," Kaito said, heading back into the kitchen. "No one's screaming and we haven't caught wind of anything drastic. So really, all we can do is watch and wait."
Two things they were both extremely good at.
Over the next several days, however, nothing seemed to change. No one was attacked, no strange cases showed up at the local hospital, and it seemed that life went on pretty much as usual.
In the end, it was Riku who first noticed that something had changed, but in the beginning it didn't seem to be anything bad at all. She had started noticing it a day or two after their rehearsals in the park. Her sister Risa seemed happier than she had been in a long time, less fussy too and more relaxed. When Riku had asked her about it, Risa had told her about Shiro, this boy she had met in the park who was almost as into fairytales as she was. Riku had been concerned to find out that her sister was out alone so often with this person she had never met, but from what Risa had told her, he seemed nice enough. And frankly, she'd been a bit worried about her sister for awhile, so just to see her laughing and smiling so earnestly again was reason enough to not press her for details.
But then… Then Risa had started talking about a ball and Riku was no longer sure what to think.
According to Risa, it was going to be a grand affair with plenty of guests from all over, good food and dancing. It would be formal and she'd get to wear the kind of dress that she had only so far dreamed of wearing to a party—she had gone shopping with Shiro the other day and he had bought one for her. Aside from the fact that Riku felt this whole affair had started way too quickly for her to be comfortable, something just felt strange about how sudden it had all been. Riku had never even heard of the estate where the ball was supposed to be taking place, or Shiro's family who were supposed to own it. And when she'd tried to look them up in the city directory, she hadn't been able to find even something that looked remotely similar. As far as she could tell, the address Risa had didn't exist and there was no one living in the city called Shiro.
The only conclusion she could come to was that this boy, whoever he was, had been lying to her sister. The problem being that when she'd told Risa this, she'd gotten incredibly angry and stormed out of the house in a huff. She reluctantly told Daisuke about it at school the next day and, eventually, the information wound up back with Shinichi when Daisuke had hesitantly called to ask him to investigate the matter.
"So who are we looking for again?"
"Someone going by the name Shiro," Shinichi explained, glancing over the information he had gotten from the elder Harada twin, "a boy that Harada Risa has been seeing lately. Her sister sounded very worried when we spoke."
"Which, of course, is why you agreed to do it even though this sort of thing isn't your usual expertise," Kaito mused.
"You could say that. And I haven't had any cases lately." Which, seeing as he was a homicide detective, was definitely a good thing, if a bit dull.
"So?"
"I think the address she has is actually a real address, or to be more accurate, it used to be a real address—like maybe about a couple decades ago. The place should just be some ruins by now. No one bought the place after the original owners passed away."
"Shall we go check it out?"
"I guess we don't really have a choice."
But there didn't seem to be anything to find. The place had definitely not been lived in for many, many years, but Kaito could imagine that it must once have been quite beautiful. In his mind's eye, he could picture the broken statues as they once had been, the walls of the mansion devoid of ivy with the cracks smoothed out and the worn stones bright and new. It must have been quite the sight to behold, with a garden that had not yet been overrun with weeds.
"Looks like the boy was lying," Shinichi muttered, "but something just doesn't feel right here. I mean, why lie?"
"More like if he was going to lie, why not choose somewhere less obviously false," Kaito observed, running his hand over the jagged edges of an angel statue's broken wing.
"I suppose we'd have to meet this person to learn more."
Kaito grinned. Spying on people was something of a specialty, or maybe he should call it a hobby. "Any idea when Risa-chan is supposed to be seeing him next?"
"No, but her sister might know."
And so it was that the following afternoon found magician and detective strolling seemingly casually down a street downtown after class had let out. Riku had managed to get Risa to tell her where she was most likely to go today and the café in question should have been close by. Kaito spotted the long-haired twin from across the street at last and his gaze quickly switched over to her companion only to go blank in shock.
"Is that…Swan-san?"
"What?" Shinichi followed the direction of his stare, squinting. "But it's a guy."
"So? "She" is technically a magical work of art that is really a combination of five art pieces. If you really wanted to get technical, she should probably be an "it". You said yourself there was a man in that painting."
The detective frowned uneasily. "This is bad, isn't it?"
"It could be. You have that sealing pendant on you, right? Good, then let's—"
But before either of them could act, the boy suddenly stood, looking apologetic as he said something to Risa and then left, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
"Damn, do you think he sensed us too?"
"Most probably." Shinichi shook his head, biting at his lower lip. "How are we supposed to explain this to her?"
The problem with explanations was that in order to get your point across, the other party had to be willing to listen. And Risa was having none of it.
"It's not true!" she shouted, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "It's not just a trick, it's not! That's such a mean thing to say."
Stomping her foot, she turned and ran up the stairs. They could hear the sound of a door slamming, presumably to her bedroom.
Shinichi looked helplessly at Kaito. Dealing with people was Kaito's department, not his.
"I'll go see if I can talk to her," Kaito said, moving to follow the girl upstairs. "Though somehow, I don't think she'll want to listen to me either."
Ten minutes later and the magician returned, shaking his head.
"But there has to be something we can do," Riku said, frustrated. There was no way she was just going to stand by and let some painting take her sister away or trap her in some artwork just so it could walk free.
Shinichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why couldn't the girl just see that she was in danger? "I'd offer the sealing pendant but I don't think she'd agree to wear it. One thing is for sure though. Whatever happens, we can't let her go to that ball."
Except that by the time Riku went upstairs to check on her sister again, Risa had already gone. Daisuke, Kaito, Shinichi, and Riku scoured the city high and low for her, starting with the ruined estate. But hard as they tried, they couldn't find so much as a trace that she had ever left home.
It seemed they had no choice but to wait for the ball to take place the following night and hope that the ruined mansion would at that time consent to give them a clue. Leaving her guests in the living room, Riku wandered up the stairs and stood in the doorway to her sister's bedroom. It just felt so strange for her not to be there.
"Oh, Risa, what have you gotten yourself into?"
It had been hard to convince Riku to stay behind, but somehow they had managed it. Unfortunately, it had also meant leaving Daisuke with her, partly to make sure they had backup if something went wrong.
There was a full moon that night, and under its light the estate took on a completely different appearance. Truly, it was like they had stepped through a window back into the past. Everything—the statues in the vast garden, the polished front doors with their golden patterns—shone as though they had only just been put in place. Which, Shinichi reflected, they more or less had.
Light spilled from the many windows, illuminating the night as they drew closer. They could hear the sound of chatter and laughter coming from inside. It sounded like a real party, but they had seen too much of the bizarre and impossible here to wonder at how that could be. Magic, as Kaito had always believed and Shinichi had come to accept, could do more than incredible things.
"Does this place look kind of familiar to you?" Shinichi asked suddenly, pausing on the grass a few yards away from the main steps.
Kaito turned to glance at him then back up at the towering building. "I can't say it does."
The detective frowned, shutting his eyes as he tried to remember. "I think—yes, I think the silhouette was in the background of the Fateful Wish painting."
"That makes sense. Perhaps this place was what inspired Rulane to paint that particular painting in the first place. No wonder Swan-san ended up here. Strange though, I think we're still in the real world but it feels like we're in a painting at the same time, like they've overlapped."
The detective nodded in agreement. He had his hand flat against the mansion wall and he could feel the old nicks and cracks upon it even though his eyes saw only smooth stone. The surreal atmosphere of the place, the way it made him feel just a bit lightheaded, it all reminded him of how it had felt when they'd gone into the Sleeping Beauty painting after Riku. The brush of a world that was not their own.
Peering through one of the windows into what appeared to be a vast, brightly lit ballroom, Kaito surveyed the gathering of dancers and onlookers with a practiced eye. "It seems our dear couple isn't in there anymore."
"Were there any bridges on this estate?"
"Around back. Come on."
Sure enough, they found the two people they were looking for in the gardens behind the mansion, standing in the middle of a bridge that overlooked a small, manmade lake. Silver hair gleamed oddly bright even in the semidarkness. The boy had his arms around Risa's waist and seemed to be leaning forward.
Shinichi panicked. "Risa? Risa! You have to listen to us and get away from him!"
The two figures pulled apart a little and Shiro turned a frosty gaze towards them. "What are you doing here? You weren't invited."
Kaito grinned his razor-edged KID grin, leaving Shinichi behind with a new burst of speed and vaulting over the railing onto the bridge mere feet from the pair. "Yeah, well, I never wait for invitations."
He started towards Risa but was forced to leap backwards as something heavy crash landed on the bridge between him and his target. Looking up, he found himself staring briefly into the face of one of the stone angels. A stone angel that, more importantly, had been carved carrying a stone staff. Not bothering to stop and think—in his old line of work, you often couldn't afford to—Kaito reacted, bringing his hands up to catch the weapon before it could connect with his head. Directing his gaze past the living statue without loosening his grip, Kaito caught Risa's eye.
"Risa-chan, do you really want to be trapped here forever? Are you prepared to make that kind of sacrifice for the sake of this kind of dream?"
The girl looked frightened and confused, though there was also a slight vagueness in her eyes that worried him.
"Risa?"
She hesitated and looked back up at Shiro when he called her name. Kaito feared that they had come too late, that they would have to find some other way to destroy this particular painting and get her out. He doubted she could really still believe they were lying after witnessing all this, but he knew first hand just how powerful these enchantments could be.
But then her shoulders slumped just a little and she took a step back.
For a moment, silver eyes widened in surprise. Shiro could have grabbed her, could have reached out and pulled her back, but for some reason he couldn't seem to do it. And so, against all reason and expectations including his own, he let her go.
And with another step back, the lights and the glamour faded, receding even as the boy disappeared to leave behind only the ruins of an estate and the memory of its dream.
.
"I don't understand what happened," Shinichi said, frowning. He and Kaito had brought Risa home before returning to their own apartment. He sat on the bed now, staring unseeing down at his notebook. "We didn't do anything. Risa didn't do anything other than walk away, which I'm still not sure why she chose to do. Why? Why didn't the painting try harder to stop us?"
Kaito shrugged from his position at the window. "Maybe something happened during the story that Swan-san hadn't expected."
Shinichi looked confused, but Kaito didn't feel particularly like explaining what he meant. The events of the night had left him feeling oddly down. He was starting to feel almost sorry for the painting really. He wondered if it even realized what it had come so close to finding.
Shutting the window, he joined his detective on the bed, pulling Shinichi back against his chest and burying his nose in his hair, trying to engrave the feeling into his memory along with all the other moments he would never allow himself to forget again.
Some things in the world would always be more powerful than even the strongest of enchantments.
.
Riku hesitated in the doorway, a tray of freshly brewed tea and cake in her hands. "Risa, are you all right?"
Her sister had been oddly quiet ever since she'd gotten back. Kuroba-sensei had explained to her what had happened, but it had left more questions than answers.
Turning away from the balcony door, Risa hesitated then smiled. "I'll be okay."
"What happened?" Riku asked quietly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but maybe it'll make you feel better if you talk."
Risa stared down into her teacup. She was quiet for so long Riku had almost made up her mind to leave and give her some more space when suddenly, "I think maybe I knew it wasn't real all along. That night I ran away? I went to his estate and he let me stay in one of the guest rooms. There were a lot of other people there, servants, his parents—but no one ever left. And after you talked with them for awhile, you could just start to see something in their faces. It was like they just weren't there, like they weren't really listening. Not because they didn't want to but because they couldn't hear you."
She trailed off but Riku remained silent, waiting patiently for her to piece her thoughts together into words.
"Shiro was different though. He always listened to me." Risa blinked rapidly, her vision blurring. "He might not have been a person like you or me, but I don't think everything was fake either. There were times when we were talking that he'd go all quiet and… I think he was sad too. And sometimes he'd smile at me and—maybe it wasn't all real but sometimes, sometimes there was just something there."
She looked back at Riku. "I couldn't have stayed there. I know that now. But you know what? Even if he wasn't real, not real in the way that I wanted him to be, I'm still glad that I got the chance to meet him. It doesn't matter why it happened. He made me feel special. And I know that someday I'll find someone real who can be like that too."
"Risa," Riku sighed, moving around the table to give her sister a hug. Risa was crying, but Riku had the feeling that she would be all right. In some ways, it seemed like her little sister was growing up.
TBC…
AN: I was originally going to make Swan the fairy godmother, but I was partway through writing this chapter and it suddenly struck me that I would find it more interesting if she played the prince. ^_^