Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Illusions of the Sun

4: Looking Forward

"Shin-chan~, if you don't hurry we're going to be late," Kaito called up the stairs. He was answered by a thump and a muffled exclamation. Now rather curious, he made his way upstairs. Shinichi wasn't a morning person, but he'd actually been the one to wake Kaito up that day. He also didn't tend to think much about things like appearance and yet he was still rummaging through the closet when Kaito poked his head into the room.

"What are you doing?" the magician couldn't help but ask. "Surely it can't be that hard to figure out what to wear. It's not like we're going to some kind of formal party."

"It's not that," Shinichi said a bit distractedly. "I read somewhere that there are a lot of rides at these kinds of places where you get wet, so I was thinking maybe we should bring another set of clothes, but we don't seem to have any bags that would be good for that. Most of them are too big or too small. Do we have any sunscreen?"

"There's a bottle in the medicine cabinet," Kaito replied, stifling a laugh. "You know, in this weather any wet clothes will dry in no time. I don't think you have to bring spares. And if they don't I'm sure I could dry it for you."

Shinichi backed out of the closet to frown at him. "You promised you'd stick to power-free magic while we're in public."

"I know, I know, but really, no one would notice clothes drying a bit faster. Besides, you're the only one who'd be able to tell the difference between the real magic and the magic tricks."

"You don't know that for sure. What if someone does notice? What if—"

Stepping forward quickly, Kaito covered Shinichi's mouth with a hand before he could say more. "It's all right. I promise I'll be careful. But you have to promise me to stop worrying about this and try to have some fun. We have to start looking forward. I'd say we owe ourselves at least that much. So shall we get going?"

Shinichi blinked at him for a moment over the hand still covering his mouth then nodded.

"Good." Kaito grinned. "Now let's get going before they decide to leave without us."

Shinichi smiled at that. "I guess we can't have that."

X

They arrived in the park exactly at eight, earning a few teasing comments about lying in wait for the clock which, for some reason Shinichi couldn't fathom, led to an argument between Hattori and Hakuba over the merits of punctuality. It seemed to be something of a sore spot between the two. Then again, everything seemed to be a sore spot between the two. It was really quite bizarre. How could anyone have so much to argue about?

The two detectives aside, Ran introduced them to a rather energetic girl called Toyama Kazuha. Sonoko, she added, had backed out of the trip at the last moment because of a major sale going on at one of her favorite stores so it was just going to be the six of them.

"Only she'd think fighting over half-priced goods with a bunch of sale-happy, crazy shopaholics is more fun," Kazuha laughed.

"That's because she's the queen of all those crazy shopaholics," Heiji snickered. "But hey, it's her loss. I do feel sorry for Makoto though, he has to go and carry all her bags."

There was a collective wince.

"We should bring him something," Hakuba murmured.

The bus chose that moment to trundle up the street and the topic of Sonoko and her habits was discarded in favor of telling their new classmates all the things they just had to do when they got to the amusement park. Shinichi tried to listen—it all sounded so surreal—but ever since they'd gotten on the bus he'd been feeling…like there was something not quite right. It had something to do with someone on the bus, he was sure of that, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

And all the people everywhere was distracting.

"—ichi! Shinichi!"

Jerking back to the present, he looked up to find Kaito leaning over him, a slightly worried gleam in his eyes despite the grin plastered across his face. "Huh?"

"The driver's getting impatient," the magician replied, tilting his head to indicate the man at the front of the now empty bus who had his arms crossed over his chest and a deep scowl carved into his face. The tapping of a foot reached Shinichi's ears and he flushed in embarrassment, hurrying to scramble out of his seat.

"S—sorry," he stammered, offering the irate driver a quick bow before all but jumping down the steps of the bus, followed closely by a rather amused Kaito.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked as the bus doors slammed shut behind them.

"What? Oh, it's just…there're a lot more people here than I thought there'd be." Shinichi smiled a bit sheepishly, hoping Kaito wouldn't press the issue. That feeling was gone now, not that that meant too much. Still, it might be nothing, and if he brought it up now Kaito would insist they go home. Kaito may be all for not worrying, but Shinichi knew he still did it too, whether or not he wanted to admit it. It was in the way he always had one eye trained on the shadows and how he still couldn't sleep unless he had Shinichi tucked up against him where any attempt to dislodge the oracle would inevitably wake him (not that Shinichi was complaining, he couldn't sleep when Kaito wasn't there either, but it just went to show how much they hadn't been able to let go).

"Oi! What are you two waiting for?" Hattori's voice rang out across the parking lot. "If you don't hurry up we won't be able to get through all the rides!"

"We don't really have to go on all of them," they could hear Kazuha saying as they hurried to catch up to the group. "I'd say it'd be better if each of us picks the ones we want to go on most and we concentrate on those. With all the people here trying to get to all the rides is probably going to be impossible anyway."

"I agree," Ran said, handing each person a glossy pamphlet. "These have park maps in them. Just take a look and pick, uh, two or three things you absolutely don't want to miss."

"We should also decide which of the park restaurants we wish to have lunch at," Hakuba added. "That way we will be able to plan the most efficient route."

"Ugh, listening to you makes it sound like some kind of business operation," Hattori grumbled.

"That is not my problem."

"Yeah? Well, it isn't mine either."

"Then you need not have raised the subject."

"So what do you guys want to eat later?" Ran cut in hastily, shooting Kaito and Shinichi an apologetic look. "If no one has any particularly strong preferences, I've heard the Toucan Café is supposed to be good."

As they entered the park, Shinichi looked up to see a long, red vehicle stuffed with people hurtle along a looping track at breakneck speed. Most of the people were screaming. Some were waving their arms around as they yelled. It looked like an accident waiting to happen and for a moment he had that uneasy feeling again—though it could have just been a reaction to the sight of the unfamiliar contraption. He couldn't help but wonder if that was supposed to be fun. Then again he supposed whoever built these things must have known what they were doing and been sure to do everything they could to make sure it was safe.

X

The six high school students managed to ride the Jungle Train and visit the rock climbing plaza chosen by Ran and Hattori respectively much faster than they had anticipated so they stopped by two of the smaller coasters before heading for the carnival-themed section of the park where the Toucan Café was located. Kazuha had chosen the maze of mirrors as one of her 'must go' attractions so they picked up a number from the café before spending ten minutes wandering through its shimmering halls, making it out in record time.

"You sure you haven't been here before?" Hattori had asked Shinichi when they'd gotten outside. "Because you seemed to know exactly where you were going."

The oracle smiled a bit uneasily at that. "I'm just—good at reading the reflections, I guess."

"You must have one hell of an eye then."

"Uh…thanks…?"

With another thirty minutes to go before they could eat, the group made their way towards the carnival games which had been one of the places both Kaito and Shinichi had wanted to go to from the start. The most colorful area of the park, it was lined with dozens of little game stations. It had been decorated with extremely realistic tropical birds with their rainbow wings spread wide as though about to take flight. Shinichi couldn't tear his eyes away from a particularly large, red and gold bird whose tail trailed at least three feet in length. Its painted eyes glinted and for a moment he would have sworn it was alive.

"You know, if you like them that much, the ring game has miniatures for prizes," Kaito murmured, stepping up beside him and slipping an arm around his middle. "Or I could make you one. It doesn't look too hard and there's that crafts store by the school. I'm sure we could find what we'd need there."

Shinichi glanced at the booth in question and the row of multicolored birds that had been hung all over one of its walls. Designed to be hung up in windows or on roof awnings like wind chimes, their feathers glimmered as they spun slowly in the light breeze. "Can we try the game?"

Kaito grinned and started pulling him towards the booth. "Of course. Come on. Do you want a blue one, a red one, a purple one, or a white one? Or maybe one of each?"

Ran watched them go, wondering with some amusement if the two had forgotten about the rest of them. They did seem to have a tendency to slip into their own little world. She'd noticed how the two were almost always standing together, and more often than not Kaito seemed to either have his arm around Shinichi or be holding his hand. And Shinichi, whom she'd noticed shied from coming into close contact with people in general, didn't seem to mind at all. There was something very casual in their closeness, like it was just a part of the way they were. It was kind of sweet, she mused, but also kind of strange because there were times when there seemed to be something defensive about their actions.

Then again maybe she was just over thinking things.

"Hey Ran," Kazuha called, tugging on her arm. "You should go try that hammer game. I bet you'd cream the high scores."

"Sure," she agreed, turning away from the ring toss booth. "Where're Saguru and Heiji?"

Kazuha rolled her eyes. "Where do you think?" She jerked her chin towards a different game station where two familiar backs stood. Each had a pile of balls by their left elbow and the young woman running the station was just putting the finishing touches on two tin can pyramids. "I think they're on round eight. Round seven was the tie breaker."

Ran blinked. "Then shouldn't they have moved on?"

Kazuha gave her a dour look. "Let's see… Round five was a tie breaker too. And so was three."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

X

"I've been thinking about getting some birds," Kaito said quietly, holding up one of the delicate avian ornaments they had acquired from the ring toss as the two wandered among the booths. "Like the ones Tou-san had."

"I think I might have seen some in the pet store," Shinichi said after a moment's pause, bringing a small smile to his companion's lips. "You should probably ask your mom about it first though."

"She won't mind," Kaito replied confidently. "I was thinking of using that spare room upstairs for them."

"That room's a mess."

"Yeah, well, we'd have to make some adjustments of course."

"I guess we should stop by the bookstore on our way home then."

Kaito paused for a moment at that. "Was there something you wanted?"

"I was just thinking you could pick up a book about bird care. Though I…wouldn't mind taking a look around," he added, turning a shade pink.

The magician laughed. "All right, a trip to the bookstore it is then."

Kaito continued to talk, but Shinichi had stopped listening because the sky flashed red and fire blazed across it in a serpent's streak. Black shapes that might have been human crumbled to dust all around him before everything washed away in a tide of thick, gray smoke. Other shapes rose and fell from the smoke like dolphins leaping from a dull, gray black sea. A face emerged from the smoke, its expression twisted in anguish as its mouth grinned a madman's grin. Tears of blood streamed from the corners of the face's eyes—

He was on his knees, staring down at the concrete far too close to his nose. The air rasping through his throat felt harsh but he welcomed its rough solidity. For a moment all he could hear was his own heartbeat and the rasp of his breathing, then the faint roar resolved itself into the sound of the amusement park and a familiar voice calling his name.

Lifting his head, he found Kaito crouching before him. The magician's expression was carefully controlled but Shinichi could read the anxiety lurking behind his eyes and the tension in his shoulders. The grip he had on Shinichi's shoulders bordered on painful (yet the oracle hadn't noticed it until that moment, too caught up in the flood of images). Behind him a few curious, mildly concerned passersby stopped to watch.

"I'm all right," he rasped out before the magician could say any more. When Kaito gave him a skeptical look he covered one of the magician's hands with his own and did his best to smile. "I just—got a bit caught up."

"Another vision." It wasn't a question and the oracle didn't bother to answer. Kaito let out a quiet breath and sat back on his heels, loosening his hold but not letting go. "What was it this time?"

"Well…" Shinichi frowned in concentration, thinking back and sorting through the fragments of images that had flashed before his eyes. The crimson sky and the smoke he remembered clearly, but the rest of it… It was important—he knew it was important. It was the face and the hands and—

"I—I've seen him before," he gasped in realization as he scrambled to his feet.

"Seen who?" Kaito asked in confusion as Shinichi took off running, dragging the magician along with him.

"The man with that face," the oracle replied a bit distractedly, eyes darting over the faces of everyone they passed.

Kaito couldn't make heads or tails out of the statement but he picked up his pace anyway. Shinichi's visions could often be hard to place on a timeline but the oracle himself had always had something of an instinctive sense for their urgency. Over the years that sense had become more accurate. If he was running, then there was a reason for it.

They had almost reached the edge of the carnival zone when Shinichi nearly crashed headfirst into Hattori.

"Whoa!" the dark-skinned teen exclaimed, catching the oracle's shoulder automatically to steady him. "Where're you two going in such a hurry? We've still got ten minutes before we get our table."

"There's no time for that!" Shinichi exclaimed. "We have to find him right now!"

Hattori's confusion only grew. "Him? Who're you talking about?"

"That man," the oracle explained, urgency making the words tumble out in a rush. "The one in the green coat that was on the bus with us. He's going to try and blow up the rollercoaster—the big red one in the middle of the park."

Hattori gaped at him for a moment before glancing over at Kaito as though wondering why the magician was so calm when his friend had apparently lost his mind. "Uh, no offense or anything, but this isn't your idea of a joke, is it?"

Shinichi stood frozen for a moment, staring at the detective, then he ducked around him and set off at a sprint, Kaito close on his heels. Hattori stared after them, his mouth hanging open slightly. What was going on here? Giving himself a shake, he glanced around the carnival, searching for Hakuba's distinctive, blond hair and hoping that the girls were with him. Weird and confusing or not, the fact remained that the two had just gone haring off like they had hell hounds snapping at their heels. As the two newcomers' self appointed guides, they had to at least try and understand what was going on.

X

Shinichi focused on the face from his vision, trusting his powers to guide him and Kaito to keep him from running into anyone. The people they passed spared them little more than the occasional, curious glance. To them, they were just two more teenagers running around the amusement park on some errand or other that no doubt only the young would understand. On the horizon the bright, scarlet rollercoaster loomed larger and larger, the delighted screams of its passengers a distant siren's call.

Shinichi skidded to a halt beside a cotton candy stand and stood for several seconds with his eyes closed. Then he turned sharply to the right and set off again. They passed two smaller coasters before he spotted a stand of vending machines located beneath the spreading boughs of a small grove. There, half camouflaged against the trees by the dappled shadows of the grove, was a man in a long, green coat. He had one hand in his pockets as he gazed up at the crimson coaster, his lips moving silently. As they drew closer Kaito could make out the words being spoken even if he couldn't hear them.

Eight.

Seven.

It was a countdown, he realized. And judging from the way the man's arm twitched in anticipation, whatever was coming was related to whatever was being hidden in the pocket of that green coat.

Shinichi made a jump for the man in the green coat, eyes fixed on the man's concealed hand, but before he could reach his goal the man glanced in his direction. His eyes widened and he took a step back—just as Kaito materialized from the shadows behind him. The magician delivered a quick but sharp blow to the back of the man's head, causing him to fold like so much boneless cloth.

Dropping to his knees beside the man, Shinichi pulled a small remote control from the coat pocket. A sigh of relief rushed past his lips and he sat back on his heels. For a moment he just looked down at the unconscious figure on the ground. Then he looked up at Kaito with a slightly lost look.

"What are we supposed to do now?" he wondered, gingerly raising the remote control.

"You could start by giving that to park security," a voice said from behind him.

He started and glanced around to find Hakuba and Hattori approaching them. It was the blonde who had spoken. He had a rather speculative look on his face while his companion just seemed bemused. "They will be here shortly. Ran and Kazuha went to alert them."

Hattori reached over and took the remote control from Shinichi's loose grip. "Is that really—it is!" he gasped, surprised and a bit nonplussed. "But then where's the bomb?"

"Under the second car on the coaster," Shinichi answered without thinking.

Both detectives turned to look at him and he paled under their stares. He was saved from the questions he could just see hovering on the tips of their tongues however by the arrival of Ran, Kazuha, and park security. Hakuba and Hattori became the center of attention as the security personnel recognized them.

"Are you all right?" Kaito asked quietly as he helped Shinichi to his feet. The oracle still looked unnaturally pale.

"I'm fine," Shinichi assured him. But he swayed a bit unsteadily on his feet and had to lean on the magician to keep from falling.

Kaito raised an eloquent eyebrow at that as he wrapped an arm around Shinichi's waist to steady him. "Right. You really need to work on that delivery if you want anyone to believe you."

Shinichi smiled sheepishly. "Just tired." And maybe a bit dizzy, but that was nothing new. It was just a side effect of being temporarily detached from the present.

"Are you two okay?" Ran asked, wandering over with Kazuha as the detectives left with park security and the green-coated man who was beginning to stir. "You seem kind of pale."

"We're okay," Kaito replied, offering them a reassuring smile. "Just a bit worn out I guess. That was some adventure."

Kazuha snorted. "If you keep hanging around with those two idiots I'm afraid you'll probably see a lot more of this kind of stuff. They kind of tend to go looking for it, being detectives and all."

"So this happens a lot?" the magician inquired, eyebrows rising. "I was kind of hoping it was a once in a lifetime kind of thing."

Ran laughed lightly, sounding more than a bit exasperated. "Don't worry, it doesn't happen every day or anything. But with those two getting called in by the police all the time it's kind of inevitable that we see these things more than other people do."

"Let's talk about something else," Kazuha cut in. "Since we'll hear about it when they get back and all. Anyone want a soda? There're some benches over there. Why don't we go sit down?"

X

Hakuba and Hattori returned nearly a whole hour later. Hattori dropped onto the bench beside Kazuha as his fellow detective seated himself next to Ran.

"So how did it go?" Ran asked, handing Hakuba one of the sodas they'd bought from the vending machines.

"They found the bomb and it has been taken care of," the blonde replied, accepting the can with a grateful smile.

"And that man?"

"The police came for him," Hattori said, letting out a tired sigh. "Guy wouldn't stop screamin' at everyone once he was awake enough to talk. Seems there used to be another amusement park here before they renovated it into Tropical Land. Apparently his daughter fell from one of the roller coasters in that park a few years ago because they hadn't maintained their equipment as well as they should have. He was furious that they would reopen a park here after that—thinks they just gave the place a new name to cover up the scandal or something like that."

"That's just stupid," Kazuha grumbled.

"Well, no one ever said these kinds of people were wise. Man, and we missed our lunch appointment too."

"We can always find somewhere else to eat," Ran said soothingly.

"I saw a hotdog stand not too far from here," Hakuba agreed. "I'll go get some."

Fifteen minutes later found the six seated on some benches with hotdogs and sodas in hand. It wasn't a feast by any means, but it was calming and they all needed that.

"There's something I still don't understand however," Hakuba said as they rose to leave. Turning to Shinichi, he studied the oracle for a long moment as though trying to find the answer to some complex puzzle. "How did you know what was going to happen? We barely got a glimpse of that man on the bus and we hadn't been near the central coasters at all before lunchtime."

Shinichi felt his blood run momentarily cold at the inquiry. "I—overheard him talking to himself on the bus," he stammered. "I just—didn't realize what he was talking about. But it kept bothering me all morning and, well…"

"Guess we got lucky then," Hattori sighed. "So you guys all ready to head home?"

X

The bus ride home was a quiet one. They were all tired and no one was really up to making small talk. Shinichi had the impression that Hakuba and Hattori still wanted to question him, so he pretended to sleep with his head on Kaito's shoulder. The magician too had been oddly silent, but he recognized it as one of Kaito's moments. They didn't happen very often, but there were times, usually when Kaito was particularly upset or had a really serious issue to ponder, and when they did it was usually better just to let him think it out.

Shinichi himself found his own thoughts too restless for real sleep no matter how much the rest of him yearned for it. That morning felt like a million years ago and all he seemed to be able to think about was the near disaster that might have happened that day.

If he hadn't come…if this vision hadn't been one of the ones he could decipher quickly…

For a long time now he'd come to see the visions as his personal curse. It was useful, true, and he'd needed it—they'd needed it to survive—but it was also partly to blame for all the bad things they had had to face. Now that they had left that part of their lives behind, it had become little more than a burden. Or at least that was how he had been thinking about it. But maybe…maybe there were good things about it too.

And yet…if he had to admit that there was a place for the visions after all… Then that would mean he couldn't push them away. Couldn't let them go. If it ever became possible to get rid of them, he wouldn't be able to just throw them away anymore.

He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that.

Thinking back, he thought he could remember a time long ago when he'd wanted to solve mysteries. It had probably been a side effect of reading all the detective novels in his father's library as well as the ones his father had written. He'd loved the idea of being able to live those adventures. And back then the visions had seemed like a step towards that dream—a key that he alone held that would allow him to help the world in a way no other detective ever had and a way to practice the art of solving puzzles. But now…he wasn't sure what he wanted anymore. He didn't really want adventures anymore. All he really wanted, for this moment, for now, was to live a normal life with Kaito and his mom. To just be able to feel the sunlight on his skin and hear the wind whisper through the trees. Yes, just to be here now…that was enough.

And though he knew now that he would never be able to set aside this curse of knowing, he would cherish these moments of peace for the priceless treasures that they were—all the more for he knew now that they, like everything else, could not last forever.

When they got home the two ornamental birds they had acquired from the amusement park were hung up together in the window of their bedroom, their blue and white feathers bright and untouchable against the late evening sky.

TBC

A.N: And there's chapter 4! Hope you enjoyed and see you next time ^_^.