Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Heroes and Villains: Blue Moon Island

[Superpower Verse]

Part 20

Despite the fact that they were technically in a bit of a rush, the two Milky Way agents chose to hike up to the museum again both for the exercise and fresh air and because the bus that traveled that route wouldn't start running until half past nine. They hoped that this was a sign that they were right about the early mornings being less crowded. Halfway to their destination, however, they both realized that the other reason that they weren't seeing much in the way of other tourists out on the trail this morning might be because heavy clouds were beginning to form in the skies over the island.

When the first drops of rain fell on them, they mutually agreed that they really should have checked the weather forecast. But it was too late now, and they trudged up the last third of the trail in sopping wet clothes with their hair plastered to their heads.

There was, unsurprisingly, no crowd outside the museum this morning. The early hour and foul weather had proven to be excellent deterrents.

It was certainly a morning of mixed blessings.

The lack of visitors meant that the museum wasn't currently running regular tours the way it had been during their previous visit. Nor were visitors required to be part of a tour group to enter the building. For a moment, Shinichi was worried that the woman they were here to see might not even be available this morning, but, fortunately for the Milky Way agents, tours could still be requested.

"I'll see who's available to show you around," the receptionist said, handing them each a towel before moving to tap at the keys of his computer.

"Is Miss Tomoko here?" asked Kaito.

The receptionist quirked an eyebrow at him but nodded. "She is, actually. Do you know her?"

"Sort of. We were on one of her tours the other day," Kaito explained. "And we really enjoyed her storytelling. We were actually hoping we could talk to her some more about the island's myths and legends."

The man chuckled. "Well, if it's myths and legends you're interested in, Tomoko's definitely the tour guide for you. Just wait here a few minutes, and I'll see if she's available."

That said, he rose and disappeared through a door behind his desk.

The two agents took the opportunity to dry off. When the receptionist returned, it was with Tomoko in tow.

She smiled when she saw Kaito and Shinichi waiting in the lobby. "Hey, I remember you two. It's good to see you again. I hear you're interested in learning more about our island myths?"

"We are," Shinichi agreed readily. "We were also hoping to get a closer look at some of the exhibits while it's not so crowded."

Tomoko laughed. "I totally get that. Hey, we actually just put up a gallery for the arts festival. There are some pretty amazing pieces there that were inspired by our stories. We can start there."

The two agents followed their bouncy tour guide through the meandering halls of the museum and into the aforementioned gallery. As before, Tomoko was a constant fount of tales, and her enthusiasm didn't seem to have diminished at all despite the fact that her audience today consisted of only two members.

"This photo won a ribbon of excellence," she said, gesturing at a large photo print depicting golden light glimmering upon flat, incoming waves beneath a sunset sky. "Do you see that shape in the halo of light around the sun? It's a palace full of treasure," Tomoko told them. "Those swaths of light atop the water are supposed to be part of the path that will carry you to that palace if you can make yourself walk atop them all the way there. But they ripple and shift, break and connect with the waves as the water moves. So you see, no one's ever made it to the palace. Of course, many have claimed to see it from afar, but this is the first time that photographic evidence captured the same."

"It could just be an effect of the light bending over and off of the water though," Shinichi observed even as he recalled his own dream about this very tale.

Tomoko shrugged. "Maybe. But maybe not. It's so much more wondrous to believe it's there, isn't it? That's what I like to do anyway. I think it's good to believe in beautiful dreams."

"Very true," Kaito agreed.

The girl continued to show them around the newer exhibits as well as the less visited of the older exhibits, sharing stories and anecdotes like she had the first time they'd been on her tour. With only three of them here though, the stories became more colorful—and possibly more thoroughly embellished.

For his part, Shinichi listened and took note of the ways Tomoko told her versions of the island's stories, trying to pick out the defining features and key points and filing them away for later consultation.

Kaito, on the other hand, was putting his considerable people skills and silver tongue to good use as he led Tomoko from story to story to personal experience to legend and on until he finally brought the conversation around to the sunken ship and its treasure.

"Of course I went to watch them dredge it up," the girl said. "It'd be faster to name people who didn't! I mean, it's not every day you get to see an actual sunken ship from, like, the old pirate days. It's even rarer to get the opportunity to see it brought up in your very own home town. Add that there was real treasure in there and whoo! No one's going to want to miss a day like that. It's the sort of story you can tell your grandkids about, like, fifty years from now."

"I have to admit, I've never seen a treasure ship get dredged up either," Kaito said. "What was it like?"

Tomoko laughed. "It was different. Not what I expected. Although I should probably have realized that they wouldn't be hoisting the whole ship straight up out of the sea. You see, since the ship was sort of stuck inside one of the underwater caves offshore, it was decided that divers would go down and just bring what pieces they could out of it first. They also sent down professional divers with underwater camera equipment to document everything they saw, how it was arranged, and so on before they started removing things. I believe they'll be using that footage to create a documentary about the ship eventually when they're able to find out more about it. They're also planning to see if there's a way to actually extract the ship itself so we can display that too, but it'll be a big project. For now, it's mostly just talk."

"So what was it like?" Kaito asked. "I imagine it was pretty exciting."

Tomoko looked rueful. "You'd think that. But the truth is, we couldn't see much from the shore. It didn't get exciting until the boat the retrieval team was using came back into shore."

"Ah, but that means it did get exciting," Kaito observed. The three of them stopped in front of a spectacular painting of a dolphin leaping high out of the surf. Shinichi gazed intently at the painting, but his ears were attuned to the conversation between his companions.

Tomoko grinned. "Yeah. You remember that treasure chest in the display?"

Kaito nodded. "I remember. It looked like something out of a fantasy game."

Their guide laughed. "It does, doesn't it? Well, when they first hauled it up, it was all covered in slime and seaweed and stuff."

"Wait, slime?" Kaito asked, confused. "Why was it slimy?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a marine biologist. I assume it was some kind of plant life like algae or something. Or maybe it was seaweed residue. Anyway, what matters is that it was really slippery. So there they were, carrying this chest down the gangplank, when one of the guys loses his grip. Since the chest is real heavy, that naturally leads to his partner losing his grip as well. Next thing we know, the trunk's hit the plank and is zooming down it like it's on a slide! It flew straight into the crowd."

Tomoko shook her head at the memory, lips quirked into a wry smile. "People were leaping this way and that with some trying to get out of its way while others tried to push forward to see what was going on. It nearly ran down this little old man who couldn't move fast enough. But it flew right by me, so I reached out and tried to grab it." She made a grabbing motion with both hands for emphasis. "Didn't work. It slipped right out of my grip like it'd been greased. But I made another lunge for it, and I wasn't the only one. A whole bunch of us audience folks piled right onto that thing, and it eventually came to a stop smack in the middle of the pier."

"What happened to the old man?" asked Shinichi.

"One of the other onlookers pulled him out of the way—which I guess was the better way to solve the problem. The rest of us really didn't contribute much except to make the whole thing look silly. Well, that and to get ourselves covered in ancient treasure ship slime. I nearly had a heart attack when I realized I'd lost my engagement ring. My hands were all slippery, and it must have gotten caught on some protrusion on the chest or on one of the other people's clothes. But fortunately I found it again."

"Lucky break there," Kaito observed as a sudden suspicion popped into his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shinichi's eyes widen as the detective reached the same conclusion. "Was that the same ring you're wearing now?"

Tomoko smiled, showing him her hand. "Sure is. I don't know what I'd have done if I'd lost it."

"Would you mind if I take a closer look?" the former thief asked, gesturing to the ring. "I'm actually a bit of an amateur jeweler. It's always interesting to see new designs."

"Sure. It is a pretty cool design." Tomoko extended her hand, and Kaito took it, leaning in close. "The jeweler said it was based off the concept of the moon and its connection to the tide."

"I take it the diamond represents the moon?" Kaito asked, touching a finger lightly to said stone then tracing his fingertip over the silver that flowed around it in a graceful, abstract embrace. "And the flowing shapes of the setting and the rest of the ring embody the tides?"

Tomoko smiled down at the elegant little ring. "That's my guess too."

"It's a lovely piece."

"Yeah. Denis and I chose it together because we both liked the symbolism. The moon creates tides, and with them, the seas shape our lands. In the same way, love moves people too, leading them to act and grow and change for the better."

Kaito smiled. "That it does."

They spoke no more of Tomoko's engagement ring as they finished their rounds through the museum, though Kaito and Shinichi both asked a few more questions about the runaway treasure chest incident just to make sure they had all the details. By the time noon arrived, and their stomachs reminded them that it was time for lunch, they knew exactly which pier the chest had catapulted down as well as a number of other people who might have been present during the debacle.

"There's a great chowder house right at the bottom of the serpent trail," Tomoko told them as she escorted them back to the museum lobby. "The trail starts just outside the museum parking area. Turn right and you'll see the sign. It's a short trail but kind of twisty—hence the name, so don't walk too fast. All this rain has probably made it a bit slippery."

"Maybe we should just eat in the museum cafeteria?" Shinichi suggested, gazing out at the downpour.

Tomoko looked rueful. "Normally, I'd have recommended you do that. But the cafeteria's currently being renovated. We stocked pre-packed lunchboxes for the staff, but I'm afraid we don't have enough for guests… I'm really sorry."

Shinichi sighed but shook his head, giving the girl a reassuring smile. "No, it's all right. We understand. And you've already been a great help."

"Let me at least grab an umbrella for you." Tomoko disappeared through a side door and returned a moment later carrying a long, tightly wrapped bundle. "It's leftover stock from a few years ago. It's never been used, but no one wanted to buy it. So it's just been collecting dust. You'd be doing us a favor by taking it off our hands."

"But it's brand new?" Shinichi asked, confused.

"A hundred percent," the girl agreed, handing the bundle to Kaito.

The magician removed the thin outer wrapping then unwound the button clip keeping the umbrella tightly rolled. Once that was done, he gave it a little shake to loosen the folds then felt along the metal staff in its heart. Finding what he was looking for, he pushed.

With a soft whoosh, the umbrella opened. The sound was followed by the soft click of the mechanisms settling into place to keep it supported in its open state.

Shinichi stared.

Kaito noticed his expression, lowered the umbrella and turned it so that he could see its top, and then stared.

Tomoko coughed in a poor attempt to hide her laughter.

"I'm sorry if it's a bit…unsightly, but it'll keep the water off. And you don't have to pay for it. You can even bring it straight back tomorrow or sometime when it's not raining if you can't think of a better home for it."

Kaito let out a rueful laugh. "I suppose beggars can't be choosers. We thank you for your generosity, Miss Tomoko."

He pushed open the museum door with the hand not holding the umbrella and gestured for Shinichi to join him. The detective did so, but not before giving the pattern on the umbrella one last disbelieving look. It was composed of several huge, hideous orange and purple flowers that would have been bad enough on their own. These particular blossoms, however, came complete with madly grinning, bug-eyed smiley faces that were probably meant to look happy but actually came across as deranged.

"I wouldn't want to meet the person who thought creating this monstrosity was a good idea," Kaito muttered to his partner as they moved out under the pattering rain. "They've got to be stark raving mad."

"Some people say that about you," Shinichi noted, amused.

"At least I have style."

"Well, art is very subjective," Shinichi said philosophically.

"It shouldn't be that subjective," Kaito grumbled. "Hold on. I've got to do something about this."

They paused at the top of the trail Tomoko had directed them to. Kaito reached up and touched the underside of the umbrella's top. There was a brief shimmer and an even briefer sprinkling of rain on both agents' heads. Then Kaito dropped his hand, satisfied. With the overcast light shining through the waterproof fabric, Shinichi could see that the horrid floral creatures had been replaced by an orange and purple sky adorned with clouds.

"That's better," Kaito declared. "Now let's find that chowder house so we can go over what we've learned."

-To Be Continued-