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

IX

Nothing But Names

"Okay everyone," Kaito called cheerfully over the group of chattering students, "get on the bus please—single file, no crowding. It's time to leave."

"But, sensei," one girl piped up, confused, "where's the bus driver?" They couldn't well leave without the driver, could they?

"No worries. I'll be the one driving."

Shinichi shook his head, following the students onto the bus and taking the seat directly behind the driver. "What am I doing on your class field trip?"

"Keeping me company. And besides, we needed more chaperones and you're startlingly good with kids."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"

"A compliment of course."

Taking a seat beside her twin, Riku peered uneasily towards the front of the bus. "Do you think Kuroba-sensei is allowed to just take us all on a field trip like this?"

In the seat across the isle, Daisuke shrugged. "I'm sure he checked it with the school. I mean, people would wonder if they went to our classroom and it was empty. Right?"

"I suppose."

In any case, it was too late to turn back. The bus engines roared to life and they were off, veering out of the parking lot in a way that had them all wondering whether their teacher was really licensed to drive the thing and out onto the street.

Settling back into his seat and making himself comfortable for what promised to be an indefinitely long ride, Daisuke glanced at his reporter friend with some concern. Saehara had been unusually quiet all morning. It just wasn't like him.

"Is something wrong?"

Still frowning, the brunette slowly nodded. "You know that swan I told you about? That really giant one I took a picture of a couple weeks ago? Well, I know I got a picture of it. But when I got the photos developed, they were empty."

"Maybe you imagined it."

"I didn't! It was there, I know it!"

The problem, Daisuke knew, was that magical, phantom swans didn't have to show up in regular photographs. But that wasn't really an explanation he could reasonably give his friend. So instead, he settled for attempting to change the topic.

Back at the front of the bus, Shinichi peered ahead through the glass. He had a feeling he knew where they were headed. He and Kaito had found the place on a chance excursion a few days before and he'd seen that gleam in the magician's eye that always promised action of one kind or another. "Are you sure this is a good assignment for them? How are we going to keep an eye on all of them?"

"We'll manage," Kaito assured him, turning onto a road that led out of the main city. "We can put trackers on them just to be sure. It's going to be fun and it will teach them more about character. When you get down to it, acting's really all about the character."

It would be a valuable lesson not only about acting but about observation. Shinichi rather thought the whole event sounded a tad too fanciful, maybe a bit silly, but also undoubtedly amusing. Perhaps it was a good thing he'd asked for a day off. And helping to chaperone Kaito's class counted as volunteer work anyway, so it wasn't like he was going on an impromptu vacation or anything.

.

Their destination in question was an old playhouse a little ways beyond the city—or it had once been an old playhouse but now served more as a huge store for stage props both old and new kept in various boxes, spilling off shelves and piled atop metal racks. Shepherding all the students into the open space just beyond the front door which contained a few folding chairs and a single crate turned upside-down so as to serve people as a table, Kaito cleared his throat and waited for silence. When he was sure he had everyone's attention, he swept his arms out to indicate their surroundings. Other people browsing the shop paused to cast them curious looks but he ignored them.

"We've been talking a lot about presentation and done a lot of acting exercises. Now I want you all to put together everything you learned and we're going to play a little game."

Dropping into one of the vacant chairs, Shinichi folded his arms across his chest and leaned back to listen. He already knew the gist of it from having discussed Kaito's plans with him the day before.

"As you can see, this place is full of props. If you can think of a costume, you can probably find it or make it out of something on these shelves. Your job for today is to put together a complete character—who they are, what they look like, their names, their habits, why they're here or their stories, their likes and dislikes, everything that is part of a real, believable person. And you're going to disguise yourself as that person. This place should be more than big enough for you to be able to find a place to switch your disguises without being seen. Once you have your character, you are to start going through this store. Your task is to identify which of the people you see or meet are your classmates while not being recognized yourself."

Kaito paused for a moment to let these instructions sink in before continuing. "The more classmates you can identify, the more points you get. And you'll also get extra points if no one is able to identify you. You can keep notes on your guesses however you like—find something concealable to write it down on, memorize it and write it down after we gather here, whatever works for you that won't get you caught. Does everyone understand the assignment?"

There was a murmur of acknowledgement and Kaito grinned. "Wonderful. Now, if you would each please take one of these little badges here and keep it on your person just in case anyone gets lost or we need to verify anything. Once you have your badge, you are free to begin. You have three hours and then I want everyone to gather back at this spot. It's two o' clock now. The moment the clock strikes five, I want you all to stop whatever you were doing and reconvene. No cheating. Both Shinichi here and I will be watching so we will know if you try to write anything after the deadline or try anything unsporting to uncover your fellow students. And if you have any problems, please talk to Shinichi. He can find me if it's real urgent."

"But where will you be, sensei?"

"I'm going to be in disguise as well."

Because, of course, there was absolutely no way Kaito would miss out on a game like this. It wasn't as challenging, perhaps, as impersonating people that other people knew, but it had a definite edge in the creativity department that he didn't often get to expand on these days.

He waited until the last student had picked up a badge in-built with a tiny tracking device and vanished into the depths of the store before turning to Shinichi. "So will you be all right? You're welcome to play too, you know."

"I think I'll stick with the guessing part," Shinichi assured him, a notebook already in his hand. "I'm sure you'll make it interesting."

Kaito smirked. "Don't I always?"

And disappeared in a puff of colored smoke.

.

Riku picked her way through the cluttered isles, glancing at and quickly discarding various pieces of clothing as she went. She had no idea what kind of costume would be best. Kuroba-sensei was always emphasizing the importance of finding personalities that you were comfortable with. In this case though, perhaps it would be smartest to go with something that would make it easier to approach other people without seeming strange. Maybe someone who wore the kind of clothes it would be easy to hide a notebook in, and perhaps with nearsighted tendencies so she could look closely at other people's costumes without standing out too much.

That decided, Riku picked up a dusty, spangled shawl from a bin and started to rummage through the boxes of smaller miscellaneous odds and ends beside it. Sunglasses, a strange looking comb, plastic glasses, an old broach—that could work—a beaded necklace, a slighted rusted harmonica, and—ah, perfect. A pair of simple, wire-rimmed spectacles.

And now for something to make her hair look more gray. She'd tried on a wig during class before but it had itched like crazy and there was no way she was subjecting herself to three hours in one.

A few isles down, Risa had fallen in love with a rack of elaborate dresses and gowns. There were old fashioned ball gowns in fabrics that shimmered beautifully in the dim light, more modern designs in imitation silk and gauze, and even a dress covered from top to bottom in tiny, white beads made to look like pearls. She simply had to try all of them on. So glancing about to make sure no one she knew had been searching for props nearby, Risa squared her shoulders and proceeded to push the entire rack into one of the changing rooms.

Good thing the rack had wheels.

On the other side of the first floor, Daisuke still had no idea what he was looking for. He wandered aimlessly amidst stands of old coats and shelves stuffed with hats, completely stumped. Disguises really weren't his strong point. Neither was acting for that matter. He wasn't good at telling lies. He'd never really considered that a fault before.

/Just pick something inconspicuous—something plain and ordinary,/ Dark advised. /You can try to avoid being identified by just staying out of people's way. You've had enough practice sneaking around and this place is full of hiding places. And while you're at it, you can try to pick out everyone else./

"But do you think that would be cheating?" he asked anxiously. After all, that didn't really seem like acting, not exactly.

/Not at all. Think about it as being a spy. That's a kind of character too, is it not?/

The redhead considered this for a moment then gave in. It really was the easiest way to go. So now, how to find something that would look ordinary on him rather than ridiculous. Oh, and he'd probably need some way to hide his bright, dead-give-away hair.

At least with his hair as short as it was, finding a suitable wig should be easy enough.

.

Shinichi was actually, a little to his surprise, enjoying himself. Mostly because a lot of the disguises he had seen so far were just plain hilarious, especially after having spent time chasing Kaitou KID. You never really appreciated something done well until you'd seen it done badly.

He had spent ten minutes watching a boy struggle into a makeshift suit of armor he'd found amidst a collection of mock weapons and medieval helmets. It had been no easy task. Fake or not, the armor was heavy and fairly realistic. And only after the whole ordeal did the boy realize he would have to walk around in it for the next three hours. The heat and the weight aside, he had to learn how to walk first. Somehow, Shinichi didn't think he'd quite grasped the point of Kaito's exercise.

Another girl had done a fairly good job posing as a wizened and grouchy old man with her hair already so pale it seemed practically white, except that she'd forgotten to take the golden pin she'd been wearing earlier out of her hair. Grouchy old men didn't wear delicate, golden pins in their hair, at least not usually.

Moving around a stack of boxes overflowing with gaudy jewelry, Shinichi raised his eyebrow as he spotted another student hurrying past the isle he was in. The boy had chosen a coat so long it dragged along the ground behind him with a collar high enough to cover his mouth and a deep hat that kept slipping down over his eyes. Well, Shinichi supposed it was hard to tell exactly who was under it all, but seriously. Talk about a costume that screamed suspicious. He looked like a child trying to play the part of a detective in a really bad movie.

And what a lot of people didn't give away in their disguises, they tended to give away when they started to converse. Kaito really hadn't given them a lot of time to prepare—that hadn't been the point. But the result was a certain trend towards hesitation or over dramatics. Shinichi's favorite amateur, though, had to be this one girl who had decided to act as a basketball player with a broken arm in a cast. Rather than try to talk people into revealing their identities, she asked people to sign her cast. Some people were caught off guard and accidentally started to sign their real names. Some people didn't, but handwriting was hard to change and Shinichi suspected she had a pretty good idea how most of her classmates wrote. At least judging from the gleam he'd spotted in her eyes.

In the end, however, finding Kaito proved to be the only real challenge. Not that Shinichi had really expected anything else. Expertise and extensive study in the field aside, Kaito had far, far more experience. Always thorough and attentive to detail, even in creating his own character to become, he was nothing but convincing. Anyone but Shinichi would probably never have been able to tell the difference.

When the three hours finally drew to a close and everyone gathered once more at the front of the store, Kaito rejoined them and they compared notes. Most of the students had managed to identify at least half of their fellow classmates, give or take two or three. Unsurprisingly to Shinichi, the girl with the cast had won out with a final tally of twenty out of twenty-four. For her efforts, Kaito rewarded her with tickets to a concert that weekend.

At last, when everyone was back in their normal outfits, Kaito raised one finger and smirked. "Bonus question, boys and girls. Who was I?"

Confused silence greeted his question.

"Hint, I spoke with all of you at least once."

Another few minutes dragged by as people tried to sort through their memories of the past few hours. A few tentative guesses were offered but Kaito only shook his head. After this had gone on for awhile, Shinichi cleared his throat and pulled out his notebook.

"Yes, Shin-chan?"

"There was the store assistant and then the crone, that depressed actor, the father with the baby, and the old man with the walker."

The students stared.

"Well done," Kaito crowed, absurdly pleased, "six out of seven. I was the store owner too. Okay class, it's time to head back."

The bus was mostly quiet on the way back with everyone worn out from the afternoon's exertions. It had definitely been an interesting and educational experience. Though mostly, what they learned was that their drama teacher and his friend were…somewhat more than a little strange.

.

The moment Daisuke closed the front door behind him, he heard his mother calling from the kitchen. "Dai? Your friend dropped something off for you. It's on the living room table."

"All right! Thanks!"

A little confused as to who would be dropping off anything for him, the redhead made his way into the living room. The item proved easy enough to spot. It was the only thing on the table, a white rectangle of folded paper.

"It's a letter from Hiwatari," Daisuke said in surprise. He had noticed that the blue-haired detective hadn't been in class that day, but then missing class wasn't all that unusual for Hiwatari Satoshi.

/Yeah? What does it say?/

"He's leaving the city? But I thought he just got back."

Curious, Dark peered through the redhead's eyes at the message—the note really—written almost sloppily as though the sender had been in a great haste to be off. It was addressed to the both of them, short and to the point, if more than a little cryptic.

'Something big is going to happen soon, I can feel it. I'm not sure exactly what it is but all the artworks in the city are getting stronger. I'll be leaving the city for now. I don't think it would be a good idea for Krad to be here when it comes.'

"I wonder what he means," Daisuke mused. But Dark didn't answer.

TBC…

AN: This was more of an intermission chapter. I wanted something fun before things get serious again for the main event. ^_^