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

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Chapter Rating: T

Warnings: None

Collection Summary: No matter where or what they are, their lives are always entwined. KaiShin stories in fantasy settings.

Chapter Summary: Shinichi has been visiting the forest by his village since he was a child. Unbeknownst to him, he has caught the eye of the guardian spirit that lives there.

That Forest Dream

[Spirit Verse]

Part 2

It had to have been a dream.

That was what he told himself every time the memory of that surreal night surfaced in his mind—which was rather more often than he cared to admit.

It had to have been a dream because it couldn't possibly have been real. That made sense, right?

The problem with that particular explanation, however, was that, well, there were things it just couldn't explain.

The first problem was the way the man in his dreams had looked.

-0-

"What?" Ran exclaimed, taking an involuntary step back. "Why are you asking me? You're not saying—you didn't actually see the spirit, did you?"

"No! No, of course not," Shinichi said quickly. The last thing he needed was for Ran to flip out over the mere mention of supernatural things again before he could get his answers. "I was just curious. And I'm asking you because I know Sonoko's really into those stories about the forest, and I thought she might have told you about it."

"Then go ask Sonoko," Ran retorted, clearly less than pleased with the topic. "You know I hate talking about those things!"

"But—"

"Hey, what are you doing to Ran?"

Speak of the devil, Shinichi thought. He winced as Sonoko came marching up to them and smacked him on the arm.

"I wasn't doing anything," he protested, rubbing at the spot she'd hit. "I was just asking her a question."

Sonoko frowned. "If that's true then why does she look so distressed?"

"He wants to know what the stories say about the way the spirit of the forest looks," Ran answered for him. She shivered at the thought.

"Oh?" The shorter girl perked up. "Why the sudden interest? Aren't you the one who used to say that myths and legends were things people made up to explain things humans can't understand yet?"

Shinichi coughed lightly, flushing under her amused stare. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to ask Sonoko. She was never going to let him live it down. "Well, that still means they're things we don't understand. Besides, why can't I just be curious about the stories?"

"Hmmm, well, you've come to the right place," the girl declared. "I know every story there is about Clover Forest!"

"Right… I just wanted to know what Kaito was supposed to look like."

"Well that's a stupid question."

Shinichi huffed. "And why's that?"

"He's a spirit, Dummy. They can change their shapes. They can appear human or take the shapes of animals. Don't you know anything?"

"Okay, fine, whatever. Do any of the stories say anything about what he might look like when he's human?"

"That's easy." Sonoko clasped her hands in front of her as her eyes filled with stars. "He must be incredibly handsome."

Shinichi spluttered. "That's not even close to a proper description!"

"You asked."

"I meant features. Seriously, if that's all there is to go on, then how come there are people who are so sure they've seen him and not just some random man passing by?"

"Obviously it would be the situations they saw him in," she countered. "Oh, and he's always dressed in white."

Originally ready to leave already, Shinichi froze. "What was that?"

"All the stories agree that he favors the color white. When he's human, his clothes will be white. When he takes an animal form, it will also be white. But you'll know you're not just seeing an albino animal because his eyes are always supposed to be a deep indigo."

"A—are you sure?"

Now Sonoko was giving him a strange look. "What's that supposed to mean? It's not like I've seen him. Yet. What's up with you anyway?"

"Oh. N—nothing," he said quickly. "I was just surprised that the stories would be that consistent about anything."

"And that's why he must be real," Sonoko declared triumphantly.

Ran, who had been doing her best not to hear any of the discussion, shuddered. "Don't say things like that."

"Oh come on Ran. I know you're afraid of ghosts and stuff, but the spirit of the forest is a guardian spirit, not an evil spirit."

"But isn't he the one everyone says hung those men up in the trees?"

"Well, yeah. But they were poachers. They deserved to be punished."

"That doesn't mean it isn't creepy. I mean, just imagine someone you can't see always watching you just waiting for you to do something he doesn't like…"

"I guess if you insist on thinking about it like that then it's no wonder it bothers you," the shorter girl replied. "Personally, I'd love to meet him."

The rest of the conversation was spent with the two girls arguing over what it would be like to really meet Kaito. Shinichi didn't pay much attention though. All he was able to think about was how the image in his dreams just so happened to match the descriptions found in the village legends. Was it just a freaky coincidence? Or was it proof that he really had met a supernatural being?

-0-

It wasn't until later that something Ran had said in that conversation returned to him, bringing with it its own sense of déjà vu.

"I mean, just imagine someone you can't see always watching you just waiting for you to do something he doesn't like…"

Ran had meant for the statement to illustrate her unease, but for Shinichi it had rung a completely different bell.

It was true. Ever since he'd been little, he'd never felt alone while walking the forest trails. It had always felt as though there was someone there with him.

Far from being scary like how Ran thought it was though, it had always made him feel safe.

But two bits of physical description and a feeling weren't enough to convince him that his experience hadn't just been a dream.

But there was also the item he'd found when he'd returned home from his job at the bookstore the same day he'd woken from the dream. He had spent the whole day frazzled and confused. He had only just made up his mind to try and forget the whole strange thing when he'd opened the door to his bedroom and seen it lying there on his windowsill.

He had recognized the flower immediately. It was the same kind of flower he had seen for the first time in that meadow in his dream. Its petals glowed like moonlight spun into the shape of a flower.

Hesitantly, as though afraid that any sudden movement would shatter its delicate form, Shinichi picked it up off the sill. It was light and soft as flowers were, but it was definitely solid. Definitely real.

But if it was real then that dream must not have been a dream. After all, there was no way he could have dreamt of flowers he had never seen before. Unless he had seen them before and simply forgotten? Perhaps in a book? It had been that thought that had driven him to search the botanical texts at the bookstore over the following days.

-0-

"Excuse me, have you seen our copy of Fantastic Flora? I can't find it."

Hondo Eisuke, the other young man that had been hired by the bookstore along with Shinichi, looked around from where he'd been shelving some new books. Shinichi opened his mouth to warn his colleague, but it was too late. Eisuke's shoulder bumped the shelf, causing the small ladder he was standing on to roll out of place. Letting out a yelp, the bespectacled youth fell off the ladder to land in a graceless heap on the ground. To top it off, the book he'd been in the process of shelving fell and bounced off the top of his head.

Shinichi winced. "You okay?"

"I—I'm fine." Laughing sheepishly, Eisuke clambered back onto his feet and straightened out his clothes before picking up the fallen book. "Um, so you were asking about a copy of Fantastic Flora?"

"Yeah. I know we had a copy, but it's not with the other botany books."

"Oh. That's because a lady called in yesterday to ask us to hold it for her. She'll be here to pick it up this afternoon. Until then, it should be in the holding cabinet."

"Oh. Thanks."

"It wasn't a problem. Um, why did you want to see it? Are you planting a garden?"

"Huh? No, it's not that. I just…wanted to look something up."

"Oh. Okay. Well, good luck looking."

Noticing that he only had fifteen minutes left before his break would end, Shinichi hurried to the cabinet where they kept all the books being held for customers. Opening it, he ran his finger along the spines of the books inside. Finding the one he wanted, he pulled it out. He'd already checked every other botanical reference book in the store, barring the ones that weren't currently in stock.

Fantastic Flora was all about flowers. This particular book, however, was a little different from the rest. Rather than being entirely filled with reference material, it included a section on mythical flowers that had not been proven to be real but which appeared in old stories. Some were thought to be extinct. Others were believed never to have existed at all.

Skipping straight to the myths section of the book, he began leafing through the pages, scanning the text and images for anything that might be a clue to a plant like the flower now sitting in a jar in his bedroom.

He had looked through so many books by now that he wasn't really expecting to find anything. But then again, they did say that things tended to happen when you least expected them.

Blue eyes grew wide as his hand froze. There, staring back at him, was a simple sketch of the very flower he had been searching all these days for.

"Oh, my sister loves that story."

Shinichi nearly jumped out of his skin. Whirling around, he found Eisuke standing right behind him. The other young man had always been clumsy, but he also had a strange knack for sneaking up on you that Shinichi didn't quite understand.

Collecting his wits, he looked down at the picture again then back up at Eisuke. "Can you tell me about it? The book only says it was drawn by a little girl who returned to the village after being lost for days in Clover Forest."

"Well, let me see." Eisuke closed his eyes as he thought hard. "It's been a long time since she told it to me, but I can tell you what I remember. My sister said that it happened more than eighty years ago. Two sisters went into the forest to collect herbs for the village healer. They accidentally got separated though, and only the older sister made it back. The entire village turned out to look for the younger sister, but though they looked everywhere, they never found her. After three days, most of the villagers gave up, assuming she was dead. Her sister kept waiting and praying though, saying that she was sure her sister was still out there and that, one day, she would come home.

"Then, almost a full two weeks after she had disappeared, the younger sister came walking out of the forest looking perfectly healthy and happy. Everyone in the village was amazed. They asked her how she had made it back all by herself. It seemed impossible. She was so young—just nine years of age. But she told them that she hadn't been alone at all. That confused everyone since no one had come out of the forest with her, and when they followed the path she'd taken back into the forest, they could only find her footprints in the soft dirt. There was no sign that there had ever been anyone else. So they asked her again about her journey.

"According to the girl, when she noticed that she was no longer with her sister, she had already gotten hopelessly lost. She wandered for hours through the forest, calling and calling her sister's name, but there was never any answer. Just when she was starting to wonder if she'd ever see her sister or her home again, she found herself walking into an open meadow. Night had fallen, and in the moonlight, she saw that the entire meadow was filled with beautiful, white flowers. Entranced by the sight and exhausted from her wandering, she fell asleep there. When she woke up, she found that a stranger had appeared. He was sitting beside her, apparently having been waiting for her to wake up. At first she was scared, but the feeling went away once they began to talk. He asked her where she was from and why she was there. She told him that she was from this village and that she had gotten lost while picking herbs with her sister. To her delight, he said that he knew the path she should take to get home, and that, if she wouldn't mind, he could show her. And he did. He traveled with her the entire way. She said that he didn't just know the way, he also always knew how to find food and water. And that was how she made it home. She drew this picture of the flowers in that meadow in honor of the man who helped her. She said they truly were the most beautiful flowers in the world—like moonlight in the shape of flowers. No one ever found any though. It's believed that they are probably a species that only grows in the depths of the forest where human travelers rarely go. Others say that they're not of this world at all but flowers from the spirit world and that the girl had somehow wandered into the spirit world when she'd been lost. Those are the people who say that the man who brought her home was the spirit of the forest. But most people think he was probably a passing traveler or maybe a hermit who lived by himself in the heart of the forest."

-0-

A meadow full of flowers like moonlight spun into flower form.

Flowers from the spirit world.

That story had sounded awfully familiar.

Sitting down on the edge of his bed, he gazed at the single blossom in its glass jar. He had expected it to wilt after the first few days, but it hadn't. It was still in full bloom. Looking at its soft, luminous petals, it was easy to imagine that it had come from unearthly origins.

His breath left him in a long sigh. Flopping backward so that he was now lying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, he chewed on his lower lip.

The more he researched, the more he was starting to think that maybe…just maybe, it really hadn't been a dream. Or at least not entirely.

But if he did believe that that night had been real then what did it mean?

Why had Kaito—

He blushed and shook his head.

Okay. Start at the beginning. Kaito had said something.

He frowned, eyes sliding shut. What was it? He'd said… He'd said that he'd been waiting for Shinichi. That he'd been waiting for many years.

Come to think of it, there had been times when he thought he saw someone out of the corner of his eyes in the forest. There had been flickers of motion he couldn't explain and the echoes of a voice he thought he had only imagined.

Now that he was really thinking about it, he finally remembered where he'd heard that voice. He had spoken to it in his dreams—not the one he'd had about the meadow, but other dreams. Often it was when he'd been upset.

He still remembered at least one particularly vivid dream. That had been around when his parents all but stopped coming back to the village from their journeys, he recalled. Though he hadn't wanted to admit it, that had been a trying time for him.

The sky was dark with clouds. There was a heavy rain falling. The sounds of the large, cold droplets hitting the earth was like a dull, splashy pounding.

Shinichi could barely see a thing through the downpour, but he could make out by the glimmer of reflections and the sound that he was beside a lake. Its waters were as black as the sky, and its presence was a cold, deep stillness.

He wondered why he wasn't getting wet. Not that he was going to complain about it. Though he was dry, it didn't stop him from feeling the cold.

He didn't mind the cold or the rain though. There was something almost soothing about it.

"It sure is dreary in here."

Startled, he turned towards the new voice, but all that greeted him was the same darkness that was everywhere else. And yet, he could sense a presence in that darkness. It was a presence he had felt before.

"Oh, it's you." He turned back to the lake. "I guess this is a dream then. That explains a lot."

There was a pause before the stranger responded. "You've been here a long time."

"What do you mean?"

"This emptiness. You've been carrying it with you for a long time now."

"I still don't know what you mean."

"It isn't healthy to bottle things up you know. And you're still so young."

Shinichi scowled. "I'm not a little kid."

The stranger laughed. "As you say."

Shinichi grumbled. He might only be eleven, but he knew when he was being patronized.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"You always ask me that."

"I suppose I do," the voice agreed amiably.

Shinichi smiled a little at that. He didn't know why, but the comment lifted his mood just a little. "Hey, what do you think makes someone important?"

There was a long pause. "That is an interesting question."

"And that's not an answer," he countered.

"No, it isn't. But really, there is no definite answer to that. After all, there are many different ways in which a person can be important, and every one of those ways will look a little bit different in different eyes."

"I guess that's true…"

That dream had only been one of many.

He always woke from those dreams feeling refreshed and happier than he had been. He used to think of them as thinking dreams. They were times where he could sort out his own thoughts with the help of what he'd thought of as a part of his subconscious. But it seemed that presence hadn't been a creation of his subconscious mind at all.

Kaito really had been there the whole time, he realized. He had been watching over Shinichi since the very first time he'd walked into the forest. That was why he had been so familiar.

So… So it was true.

Not only had he met the guardian spirit of the forest, he had also—been intimate with him. He could remember everything—every touch and kiss. He remembered the passion and the pleasure and the strange sense of longings finally fulfilled. He shivered, face flushing crimson.

But the memory he kept going back to was that of a pair of indigo eyes and a smile so full of warmth and welcome that it made his breath catch in his throat.

The emotions in that expression had been so real that he couldn't bring himself to doubt them for even a moment.

But what did it all mean?

He mulled over the question as he continued his days at the bookstore. Usually spending time organizing, cataloguing, reading, and recommending books served as a way for him to calm his thoughts and soothe away—at least temporarily—any of his worries. Ever since that night, however, he hadn't been able to settle down. He found himself unable to sit still. The restlessness followed him through the day and plagued his sleep at night.

The day before his next break, he made up his mind that he would return to the forest and get some answers if it took another night's stay. Of course he had no idea how you went about looking for a spirit, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. With his mind made up, he slept soundly for the first time since that surreal encounter.

-0-

The following morning, he rose much earlier than he normally would have on a break day and packed a travel bag with food supplies since he didn't know if he would be spending the night searching or not. Then he tucked two books into the pack and headed into the forest.

His feet carried him along the familiar path to the river. Once there, he stood on the shore at a bit of a loss. What now? Should he call out? Could spirits even appear during the day? Other than that night, he'd only ever really seen Kaito when he'd fallen asleep while reading. Those glimpses of a shadow out of the corner of his eye hardly counted. Those could still have been his imagination after all.

Well, try the most logical option first. Feeling just a little bit stupid, he cleared his throat and called out, "Kaito?"

There was no answer.

"Hello?" he tried again. "Is anyone there?"

Still nothing. He sighed. Now he really felt like an idiot.

So what next? A faint frown made its way onto his face. Maybe he could try retracing his steps and finding that meadow full of flowers. He'd never seen those blossoms anywhere else, so they could be a good indicator of location if such things mattered to the ability of spirits to manifest themselves. That story of the lost girl seemed to support the theory. He would have to be careful though since he didn't want to get lost while looking around.

"Let's see," he muttered to himself as he picked his way onto the flat rock he'd fallen asleep on that time while waiting for his clothes to dry. "I started out here."

He had been lying parallel to the river, he recalled, with his feet on the downstream side. He turned so that he was facing in the right direction. But when he'd gotten up, he remembered turning to look towards the river. When he had started walking, it had been upstream but away from the river.

Pulling a small, blank book he'd prepared for the occasion from his pack, he began taking notes on his route, adding little sketches to make extra sure that he wouldn't lose his way back.

Two hours of searching later, and he still hadn't found anything. He considered going farther, but he decided against it. First of all, he didn't think he'd walked that long to reach the strange clearing that night. Secondly, he wasn't a hundred percent sure he'd be able to make it back if he wandered much farther into the tangled, unplanned reaches of the forest.

Stopping for a rest in the open heart of a small grove where the sunlight broke through the forest canopy in a thick shaft, he sat down at the foot of a large tree and pulled out one of the sandwiches he'd packed. While he ate, he pondered his next move.

Should he try sleeping? All the times he could remember actually speaking to the spirit, he had been sleeping—or thought he was, as the case may be. Well, it wasn't like he had anything to lose by trying. He couldn't exactly sleep on command though, even if he was pretty tired.

He took one of the books he'd brought from his pack and settled down to read. This book was one of the new ones that had just arrived on the bookstore shelves. And he'd gotten the very first copy.

Ten minutes into reading and he'd completely forgotten about everything else.

He must have dozed off for a moment though because the next thing he knew his book had gone missing. He blinked slowly. Feeling too warm and lazy to move, he turned his head a little, searching the ground for the missing volume. That was when he noticed that he wasn't alone.

His book was now in the hands of someone sitting beside him.

Slowly, his gaze traveled from the hands with their long fingers which were holding the book in the stranger's lap, up the arms and finally to the newcomer's face. A thrill of mixed shock and wonder raced up his spine as his breath hitched.

"Did you miss me?" Kaito asked.

"You…you're really here," he breathed.

The spirit grinned: warm and cheery. "I'm always here."

"Am I dreaming?"

"Not this time."

"Not this time?" Shinichi repeated, brows furrowing slightly.

"No, not last time either."

"O—oh." Shinichi could feel himself blushing. He tried to ignore it. "But before that, in my dreams. The voice I talked to… That was you, wasn't it?"

"That's right." Kaito looked pleased. "So you recognized me."

"But I don't understand. If you've always been here, how come I've never seen you before?"

Kaito chuckled. "While it's true that the spirit world and the human one exist side by side, there is still a degree of separation. You couldn't see me before because we were on different sides of that wall, although you've always had more awareness than the average human or you wouldn't have sensed me at all."

Shinichi supposed that made sense. "Then what about—what about last time?"

Kaito pretended not to hear the slight stutter. "There are certain times when our worlds draw closer together. The full moon is one of those."

"And what about now?"

"Well~." A hand migrated over to pick up one of Shinichi's, rubbing a thumb over the backs of his knuckles. "That would be because of our little rendezvous last time you visited. Such—intimate encounters bring people closer."

Shinichi didn't respond immediately, digesting the new information. What he really wanted to know, however, was, "Why?"

It was Kaito's turn to pause. Pulling the hand he'd been stroking over so that he could hold it in both of his own, he met Shinichi's gaze. His indigo eyes were warm and sincere.

"It's because I want you to stay with me. You don't have to make up your mind right now. Take some time and think about it. But I want you to know that I've been thinking about this for many years, and I know that nothing would make me happier. I love you."

Shinichi stared, feeling blindsided and at a loss for words. When he'd come looking for answers, he had not expected a declaration of such magnitude. Although, considering what had brought him here to begin with, he supposed he really shouldn't be so shocked. But love? Was he ready for that?

The question followed him all the way home and into his dreams that night. It continued to echo in his head as he resumed his daily routines.

-0-

Tilting his head back, Shinichi looked up into the forest canopy. It had been a week, and he'd decided he was ready.

Setting off into the forest, he let his feet carry him along that familiar path to the riverbank that he had walked hundreds of thousands of times before. As he did, he tried not to think about anything at all, simply letting the tranquility of the forest wash over and through him. When he reached the river, he spent a moment watching the water bubble and glitter beneath the dappled sunlight. Then he turned and walked back beneath the spreading boughs. He wasn't following any particular path this time, just looking for a suitable spot. He found it in the form of a warm, sunbathed clearing.

"Kaito?" he called out, no longer uncertain as to whether anyone was listening. He knew someone was. And so he wasn't at all surprised when he turned around to see that he was no longer alone in the clearing.

Kaito beamed. "You came back."

"I did." Shinichi looked down then back up at the expectant spirit. He took a deep breath. "I don't know if I can make a decision about forever yet. The thing is, even though I think I've kind of always known you were there, I don't think I can really say that I actually know you, and so I can't really make a good decision. But I…I wouldn't mind trying."

Kaito tilted his head slightly to one side, considering. "You mean like dating?"

Shinichi blushed but nodded.

Although, Kaito thought to himself, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it an engagement period. He grinned to himself. Stepping forward, he clasped Shinichi's hands in his own.

"I'd be happy to help you get to know me better. Although I do feel I should warn you that the more time you spend with me, the closer you will draw to my world."

"I guessed that much."

That, Kaito thought, made it sound as though, at least subconsciously, Shinichi had already made up his mind. He'd like to think so.

They spent the rest of the day just talking—mostly about the past. Recalling and sharing moments that they had shared only now, with both of them aware of the whole picture, those memories were taking on whole new dimensions. When Shinichi left that evening, it was with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Kaito watched him go with a fond smile, content. Shinichi had chosen to come back to him of his own free will. And now that he had, Kaito was not about to let go again. Not easily anyway. Because now he knew that the chance was very much a possibility.

-To Be Continued-

Note: One more part to go for this one.