Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK
Illusions of the Sun
8: Two Kinds of Magic
Chikage looked up from where she was frying eggs for breakfast on the stove when her son came strolling into the kitchen. She knew immediately that something was bothering him though to most people he would have looked like he did every other day.
"What's wrong?" she asked immediately, concern creeping up inside her.
Kaito looked up from his contemplation of the dining table with a slightly distracted smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It's nothing." Not really anyway. It was just that he'd woken up again that morning to find Shinichi whimpering in his sleep, caught up in some vision that might as well have been a nightmare. It had taken Kaito nearly five minutes to wake him up and five more after that to get him to talk about it. Or at least to get him to try to talk about it. Whatever the vision had been about, it seemed even Shinichi couldn't make heads or tails out of it. All he could say for sure was that it was something terrible.
Which, frankly, was the exact opposite of comforting.
Chikage studied his face for a long moment then returned to her cooking. "All right then."
She knew he wasn't being entirely honest with her, but if he didn't feel like talking about it then she wouldn't force him. She was well aware that their silence was their way of shielding her. But while she appreciated the thought, as a mother she would much rather they told her what the problem was, no matter how dreadful they might find it. She wasn't afraid of trouble. No, what she was afraid of was that she wouldn't be there for them when trouble came.
X
Shinichi leaned against the bathroom wall, eyes closed as he focused on breathing. The walls were still wavering before his eyes when he'd come in. He'd managed to get through all the necessary morning ablutions, but the lightheadedness was refusing to go away completely. If he didn't go soon though Kaito was going to come in looking for him, and then the magician would probably insist he stay home.
He gritted his teeth, forcing his eyes open and staring across at his reflection in the mirror. He refused to let this affliction control his life. So he had to live with it. That was fine. He wasn't going to let it stop him from living a normal life.
Well, the walls looked solid again. That was a good sign. Peeling himself off the wall that had been supporting him, he opened the door and nearly ran smack into Kaito on the other side.
"Oops, sorry," he apologized, blushing in embarrassment.
"No harm done," the magician assured him with a smile. "Come on, breakfast is getting cold."
Shinichi nodded and headed for the stairs with Kaito right behind him.
With a great deal of concentration, he managed to make it all the way through morning classes like any other day. If he didn't hear quite as much of the lessons as he would have liked, well, he could deal with that. Most of the material wasn't particularly hard and they had textbooks for a reason after all. What was a problem however was that all that fierce concentration on hanging on to the present meant that he was exhausted by lunchtime. And he could feel Kaito giving him searching looks whenever no one was looking.
Excusing himself, he left his lunch half eaten and made for the bathroom. Grateful to find it empty, he splashed cold water over his face. It helped, but not as much as he'd hoped.
He didn't have a watch, but he didn't need one to know that lunch was about to end. Frowning, he walked slowly and carefully back out into the hall and turned his feet towards the classroom.
He could smell smoke.
The school hallway heaved.
Fire roared at the storm ridden skies as the earth cracked and crumbled.
Voices were speaking to him.
The sea raged—
A hand touched his shoulder.
—blood red claws tore the sky into ragged pieces. Cities disintegrated. Screams rang out sharp and shrill and terrified—
There was no sound left.
—laughter. A terrible, mind-numbing, laugh.
X
When Hakuba had seen Shinichi slowly walking ahead of him on his way back to class from the school's small library, he had naturally called out a polite greeting. He was a little surprised when the transfer student didn't answer. By now the hall was mostly deserted and it seemed unlikely that Shinichi hadn't heard him. When he saw the other boy stumble however he had realized that something wasn't right. Picking up his pace, he reached out to steady Shinichi but missed as the boy chose that moment to fall.
The blonde stared for a moment in surprise, but that lasted only for a split second. Crouching down by his fallen classmate, he checked the boy's temperature. It seemed normal. Then he checked his pulse. That was racing much faster than it should be. Deciding it would be best to get the boy to the school infirmary, he was about to do just that when he was interrupted by Kaito, who had come to see why Shinichi hadn't come back yet.
"Shinichi!"
Shoving Hakuba out of the way none too gently, he dropped to his knees beside the oracle's unmoving form. He shook Shinichi's shoulder but the boy only curled in more on himself, his eyes scrunched shut as he began to shiver. Making a quick decision, he scooped Shinichi up into his arms and stood up. Focusing all of his concentration on home, he stepped sideways.
Hakuba was left standing alone in the deserted hallway, gaping at the spot where the transfer students had been only moments ago.
X
"I'm serious!" the blonde snapped, exasperation raising the volume of his voice despite his best efforts. "I know what I saw!"
"And that's why you gotta go see a doctor," Hattori retorted, unimpressed. "Honestly Hakuba, if this is your attempt at developing a sense of humor, it's not working."
"This is not a joke!"
"I'll say. Jokes are supposed to be funny. This is just weird."
Hakuba stared at his fellow detective. Had he not heard a single word he'd said?
"Well, Saguru, Kaito is a magician," Ran spoke up, maneuvering her way carefully between the two in an attempt to diffuse the rising antagonism. "It's not like he hasn't done disappearing tricks before. Isn't it possible that that's what you saw?"
"I…I don't know," he admitted, breath leaving him in a frustrated sigh. "I suppose it is possible. It just…looked real. No smoke, no lights, no distractions. Just one moment they were there and the next they were gone."
"But why'd they leave?" Hattori asked, his own curiosity piquing. "They don't usually cut classes."
The blonde frowned. He'd been so caught up in the shock of seeing two people vanish before his eyes that he had almost forgotten about the other odd incident of the day. "Shinichi appeared to be ill. He collapsed in the hallway."
"What?" Ran gasped, horrified. "Is he all right?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe it's just me, but I kinda think that's more important than how they managed to look like they disappeared. We should go see 'em after school," Heiji declared. "And I guess maybe we could get the whole vanishing thing cleared up too while we're at it."
X
The house was still and silent as they approached it. The windows had all been pulled shut and no light showed anywhere. It looked like there was no one home. Even so the three high school students made their way up to the front door and rang the doorbell. None of them were sure what to expect.
They were all taken aback by the indigo glare they were leveled with when the door opened. There was no surprise in his voice at their appearance, but nor was there any welcome. Kaito had never been anything but cheerful in front of them. It was like this was an entirely different person standing in front of them now. It made Ran wonder just how much they actually knew about him and Shinichi. Practically nothing, now that she thought about it.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice neutral but his gaze still hard as stone.
"We came to see how Shinichi was doing," Hakuba replied when neither of his companions volunteered an answer. The magician's gaze focused on his face and he had to admit, if only to himself, that what he really wanted at that moment was to back away.
A few long moments of uncomfortable silence passed before Kaito let the hand that had been resting on the doorframe like a blockade drop and stepped back. "Well, come in then."
And suddenly there was no hint of the almost frightening demeanor he'd exhibited when he'd first answered the door. The usual grin was back and if they hadn't all seen it earlier none of them would have believed that he had ever been different.
Still… The three traded glances, none of them particularly eager to be the first one in. Eventually Hattori squared his shoulders and stepped over the threshold. The other two followed right behind him. Kaito was watching them with obvious amusement. Once they began taking off their shoes, he shut and locked the door.
The three visitors were directed into the living room as Kaito disappeared upstairs.
The magician made his way to his and Shinichi's bedroom. He wasn't surprised to see the oracle sitting up when he walked in. It was, after all, Shinichi who had told him the three were coming.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, taking a seat beside Shinichi and wrapping an arm around him.
The oracle let out a quiet sigh as he relaxed against him, resting his head on Kaito's shoulder. "Better. So you let them in."
"I did," Kaito agreed. "If you don't want to see them, I'll tell them to leave." Really he was kind of tempted to do so anyway.
"They don't mean any harm you know," Shinichi murmured, sounding amused despite his weariness.
Kaito snorted. "I know, but they're also nosy. You know they're going to want answers."
"Well, you were the one who went and used magic in front of one of them," Shinichi pointed out.
"Because I had to get you home."
Shinichi let out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry."
Kaito frowned, looking down as best he could at his companion's face only to find that Shinichi had his eyes closed. "About what?"
"…Making you bring me home…making you worry…" He hated this feeling. Like he was in the way.
"It's not your fault." When Shinichi didn't answer, the magician shifted to hold the other's shoulders and pushed him to arm's length. "Look at me."
The tone of his voice forbad argument and Shinichi obliged, blue eyes glimmering in the darkness of the room.
"Whatever you're thinking, it's not true—no, don't say anything. Everything is going to be all right, I promise. Now wipe that depressed look off your face and we can figure out what we want to tell that lot with the long noses downstairs."
Shinichi let out a quiet sigh then smiled. "Maybe we should just tell them the truth."
Kaito made a face. "Or we can tell them that that was my awesome new trick."
"We could," Shinichi agreed. "And then they'll start sneaking around trying to find out for themselves and getting all the wrong ideas."
"Really?"
The oracle snorted. "I don't need to be able to see into the future to know that much."
"I guess you do have a point there." The magician fell silent then, expression growing grim. "Are you sure you want to?"
Shinichi took a moment to really think about the question. There were so many reasons not to, and so many things that could go wrong, but maybe it wasn't just about the risks and whether they wanted them.
"No, I'm not sure," he admitted finally, turning to meet Kaito's gaze. "But I am sure that I don't want to spend the rest of my life hiding from everyone. I know you don't either. I'm not saying we should tell the world or anything," he added hastily. "That would be stupid. But maybe…" Maybe it should be different with friends.
Kaito didn't need to hear him say it to understand. In his opinion it still sounded a little too risky for comfort, but he wasn't the one who could see into the future. If Shinichi thought it was a good idea, maybe it would be. It was worth giving a chance. But he was still going to keep his eyes open. If there was even the slightest hint of trouble he was going to be ready.
X
The three guests in the living room were just beginning to feel uncomfortable with the waiting when they heard their hosts coming down the stairs. They looked up as one to see a slightly pale Shinichi take a seat on the other couch with Kaito.
"Are you…ill?" Ran asked tentatively. "You don't have to tell us or anything," she added quickly. "But you know, if we can help in any way, all you have to do is ask."
It was the honest concern in her voice more than anything else that convinced Shinichi this was the right choice to make. He cast another glance at Kaito before turning back to the three people seated on the couch opposite.
"I'm not sick," he started, not entirely sure where to begin.
"But Hakuba said you collapsed at school," Hattori pointed out with a puzzled frown.
"Well, you see…"
"We can explain," Kaito interjected, leaning forward in his seat. "But first you are all going to swear that you will never tell anyone what you hear. And believe me when I say, we'll know if you do."
The dark-skinned teen blinked. "Well that sounds kinda sinister."
Hakuba elbowed him hard in the side.
"Oi!" Hattori hissed angrily, rubbing at his bruised side. "What'd you do that for?"
The blonde rolled his eyes and muttered something back that the others couldn't hear. In no time at all the two were engaged in a quiet but vehement argument. Ran sighed, shaking her head at her two friends' antics.
"I won't tell anyone," she said earnestly, meeting each of their gazes in turn. "They won't either," she added as an afterthought, causing both boys to shut up and tune back in. She shot them a pointed look. "Right?"
The two detectives nodded in agreement (perhaps a tad more hesitantly, but not by too much).
Fifteen minutes later their expressions were considerably less serious and a great deal more incredulous.
"So you can really see the future?" Hattori asked for the fifth time. "Really?"
"Yes, to a degree," Shinichi said, again, fighting the urge to sigh. "Remember the incident at the amusement park? That was how I knew what was going to happen and how I knew where to find that man."
There was another moment of silence in the long series of such moments that had happened already.
Then the dark-skinned detective laughed. "No wonder you always ace your tests."
The comment had been joking but Shinichi flinched inwardly. Using his abilities for things like exams was something he tried very hard not to do. Kaito shot the grinning teen a glare but Hakuba had already driven his elbow into said teen's side.
"Ow! Oi, what is wrong with you today? Why do you keep doing that?"
The blonde ignored him, turning his own attention back to Shinichi. "I must admit this is hard to believe, but it would explain some things. However, it does not explain your…departure earlier today."
"Oh that." Kaito smirked and snapped his fingers. Instantly a plume of green fire erupted in the center of the living room. Ran clapped her hands over her mouth as Hattori leapt up and actually fell over the back of the couch. Hakuba himself jerked backward so fast that the couch rocked backwards before thumping back into place. Kaito laughed, indigo eyes twinkling with mirth. "Just call it magic."
At that pronouncement the green flames whirled together into a long, fiery dragon that soared around the room before bursting into a shower of tiny, star-shaped sparks that hung in the air all around them for several minutes before fading slowly away.
X
"Man I still can't believe this…" Hattori shook his head in bemusement as he, Ran, and Hakuba made their way along the street. "Real magic? Seeing into the future? It's like we've walked into some kind of novel!"
"It is pretty incredible," Ran agreed, casting one last glance back at the house they'd just left. And yet…somehow she wasn't really all that surprised. They had always given her the feeling that they were hiding something.
Walking beside her, Hakuba frowned. He still wasn't sure if he actually believed it all or not. True, there were several things that would suddenly make a lot more sense if it was, but still…
"Just give it some time," Ran advised.
Surprised, he turned to look at her. "What?"
She smiled faintly. "Just give it some time, I'm sure you'll get used to the idea eventually."
X
"Finally!" Kaito heaved an exaggerated sigh and dragged Shinichi onto his lap.
"It wasn't that bad."
"No, I suppose not, but you have to admit they were starting to sound a bit like broken records. Really? Really? Really?"
Shinichi laughed, turning his face into the magician's shoulder.
TBC
A.N: So they've finally found out that magic exists. The Hattori and Hakuba conversation was particularly fun to write, hehe. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed and see you next time!