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

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Chapter Rating: T

Warning: None

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

Chapter Summary: It's time for Shinichi to begin learning how to use the powers bestowed upon him by his position as Kaito's consort. The lessons lead to a series of mishaps and an unexpected but much needed conversation about the future.

Lessons in Magic

[Spirit Verse]

The wildflowers were the first sign, or so Kaito told Shinichi as they sat together that late summer afternoon in a warm, sunlit meadow deep within the enchanted depths of the ancient Clover Forest. The wildflowers in question were growing all around them, rippling in the gentle breeze like the froth on a verdant sea. They were lovely and in full bloom—and they had not been there when Shinichi and Kaito had first arrived in that meadow earlier that day to picnic on the grass. Rather, they had sprouted up while Shinichi had been dozing so that his first thought upon waking was that Kaito had transported him somewhere while he had been asleep.

"The life force of the forest is responding to you," Kaito told him. "You're resonating with it and it with you. Since you don't have any control over it, the resonance manifested itself by growing these flowers."

"Is that a problem?" Shinichi asked a bit uncertainly.

"Of course not." Kaito laughed. "It means your connection to me and the forest has grown strong enough that you should be able to start learning how to actively use magic now. I did tell you it would happen."

"I thought you said it would take a few more years though."

"Well, it's happening faster than I expected, but that just means we're very compatible."

"I see." Blushing faintly, Shinichi turned his attention to the pretty, little white blossoms. He noticed with interest that they shaded to a pale, sky blue near the heart of each flower. The soft gradient of colors made him think of clouds in the summer sky. "Um, so…what kind of flowers are these? And are they supposed to be here? I mean, like, in an environmental sense."

"Well, these are Sky Quills," Kaito said, using a finger to tilt one blossom so that Shinichi could see the delicate, feather-like leaves underneath. "They're not usually found in this part of the forest, but that's only because they don't grow easily anywhere. They're actually very rare. It's amazing that you managed to grow a whole meadow full of them without even knowing what you're doing."

Shinichi supposed that that was a compliment of sorts, though it didn't actually answer his question. "Am I supposed to do something with them then? You didn't actually say if it's okay for them to be here. Or are they going to disappear when I leave?"

"They aren't going to disappear, and it's fine that they're here," the forest guardian assured him. "All we need to do is check in on them now and then to see how they're getting on. If they survive, I'll have to see about getting a bee colony started nearby. Honey made by bees making use of nectar from Sky Quills has excellent medicinal properties."

"Really?" Shinichi looked at the flowers in question with renewed wonder. "That's amazing."

Smiling, Kaito reached over and ruffled his hair, ignoring Shinichi's halfhearted protest. "They are pretty incredible, but the truly amazing one here is you. You managed to grow numerous healthy specimens of an endangered plant in your sleep. I think it's time we started your magical training."

-0-

"The first step," Kaito said a few days later, "is for you to become familiar with how to feel your magic and the energies in the world around you with which magic works."

"And how do I do that?" Shinichi asked.

The two of them were back in the clearing with the Sky Quills, though Shinichi wasn't sure if that was because of the symbolism or if Kaito thought this particular location would help. They had just finished lunch and were sitting just where they had been the last time they had visited as well so that it was almost as though they had never left.

"Meditation, mostly," Kaito replied. "What happened with these Sky Quills means that you already have the capability. You should actually already be able to feel the energy I'm talking about. It's just that your mind isn't consciously aware that that is what you're feeling. Meditation will help you develop that awareness. It may take some time. But once you get it, you'll never forget it."

Shinichi nodded and hoped Kaito was right. "I'm not sure how to start."

"Don't worry. I'll try to talk you through it," Kaito promised. He directed Shinichi to sit so that they were now facing one another. "Now close your eyes and breathe."

They spent the rest of the evening in what Shinichi supposed was what people called guided meditation. Unfortunately, it turned out that Kaito wasn't as good at describing what Shinichi should be feeling for as Shinichi had hoped he would be because, as Kaito admitted that evening, he had never actually had to go through the learning process himself. As a natural spirit, all of this was simply an innate part of him. It was just like how humans didn't have to learn how to breathe.

"But don't worry," he added quickly upon seeing the dismay Shinichi wasn't able to hide. "You'll get it. I know you will. It may be easier once the moon rises. It's full tonight, and that always makes the magic in the forest stir. It should be easier to sense things when there's an active influence."

Shinichi let out a breath he hadn't meant to hold. "Well, you did warn me it might take a while… I guess it's a good thing I arranged to be able to stay for three days."

Kaito quirked an eyebrow at that. While it wasn't rare for Shinichi to spend the night in the forest, it was a little more unusual for him to do so for multiple days in a row—partly because he was still working at the village bookstore and partly because people in the village might start to think something was up if he did so too often. "Really? What did you tell your friends?"

"I told them that I wanted to do some camping while the weather is good," Shinichi replied.

Kaito blinked. "Wow. That's barely a lie."

Shinichi looked away. "Well, I…really want to try to lie to them as little as possible. Especially since I…" He trailed off, but Kaito heard the unspoken words.

Especially since they didn't know how much longer Shinichi would be able to stay with his human friends.

Ever since the two of them had bonded, Shinichi had stopped aging. Sooner or later, people were going to notice.

Not liking the distinctly gloomy air that had fallen over the meadow, Kaito changed the subject. "So how about we take a break and eat something before we continue?"

The moon had just peeked over the horizon when Shinichi finally felt it. It was like a shiver in the air—silver ripples dancing across the surface of a vast, deep lake. That cool, heavy vastness was, he thought, the mental representation of what he had always felt in Clover Forest. It was power and life and time all at once, and it lay not merely at the surface of the world but deep, deep down into the land below through dirt and stone and all the hidden things and places that humanity had never seen but which every soul knew existed deep down.

It was as he contemplated this sudden realization that he noticed, gradually, that it wasn't still at all. The ripples being stirred by the moon were only the most obvious—a surface disturbance.

"Good, you feel it," Kaito murmured, voice soft so as not to disturb Shinichi's concentration. "Now try to visualize what you're feeling. Build an image that works for you."

Shinichi nodded slightly to indicate he had heard, though he kept his eyes closed.

Slowly, the silver ripples on dark water gave way to a rippling mosaic of light in all shades from soft green to sky blue to brilliant gold.

He could feel the trees and flowers all around them, radiant shapes woven from streams of living light. He could even sense the small family of birds in the branches over their heads and the rabbit hiding in the shrubbery on the other side of the meadow.

And he could sense Kaito. The moment his thoughts turned to his companion, he found that he could focus on nothing else. Kaito was—blinding.

Shinichi's breath hitched.

He had always known intellectually that Kaito was a being of power. He was the lord of Clover Forest—a vast and ancient land that lay partially in both the spirit and human worlds. He was both ruler and protector of these wild and beautiful lands, and he had been overseeing his domain for longer than Beika Village had even existed. But it wasn't until this moment that it really struck Shinichi what that really meant.

That presence wasn't limited to the entity sitting with him either, though that was where the heart of it shone. It was spread all the way through every corner of the forest.

Next to that immense blaze of ancient power, Shinichi felt small and insignificant.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, entranced and more than a little overwhelmed. It could have been a few seconds or it could have been days. Neither would have surprised him.

It was only the sound of Kaito calling his name and the feel of warm, calloused hands holding his own that brought him back to his senses. He started, eyes flying open, and found himself staring into intense, indigo eyes.

"Are you all right?" Kaito asked.

Shinichi blinked owlishly then shook his head as though to clear it. "I… Yeah, it's okay. I just wasn't expecting it to be so…" He waved a hand, unable to find the right words.

After that vibrant moment where all the world seemed aglow with life and natural energy, the world he could see with only his eyes now felt washed out and unreal. The contrast was extremely disorienting.

Kaito seemed to understand because he nodded. "You'll want to meditate on that image you just had at least a few times every day until you can slip into and out of it at will."

-0-

It took Shinichi two solid weeks of daily meditations to reach a point where opening out his senses became less of a shock and easy enough that Kaito declared him ready to begin actual magic lessons. That, however, was when Shinichi's difficulties really started.

-0-

"So what would you like to learn first," asked Kaito.

"I should probably start with something simple," Shinichi said with a shrug. "I don't know what kinds of things would qualify though."

Kaito thought for a moment then snapped his fingers. "Levitation. That's nice and simple. And useful too, especially when you want to move large or delicate objects." He cast about the clearing then pointed at a star-shaped leaf some fifteen paces away. "We'll practice with that. We're going to levitate it and move it over here to us."

An hour and a half of listening to Kaito instruct him in various ways to "feel the leaf, understand its current position in the world and change it" and Shinichi began seriously wondering whether Kaito actually understood what simple was. Watching Kaito demonstrate actually levitating the leaf was only marginally more helpful, and that was only because Shinichi now had the awareness to 'observe' the way the world fluxed when Kaito did it. Seeing the results, however, didn't tell him much at all about how to actually do it himself.

What felt like an eternity later, Shinichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know, I always imagined that real magic was supposed to make life easier."

Kaito cocked his head to one side, puzzled. "It does. Doesn't it?"

"But it's taking me hours to learn how to call that leaf to my hand. It would take me five seconds to just go over there and pick it up—and I wouldn't even have needed to spend any time learning how to do that."

Kaito blinked then laughed. "I guess when you put it that way, the magic does sound pretty pointless. But would you say the same if it wasn't a leaf you were lifting but, say, a boulder that weighed twice as much as you did?"

"Well, no."

"There you go then. Some things might be easier to do without magic, but there are things magic can help you do that make it worth learning too."

Shinichi blushed and looked down. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say that I thought it wasn't worth learning."

Kaito blinked. "I didn't think you were." He paused then, studying Shinichi's pensive face. "Is something wrong?"

Shinichi shook his head quickly. "No, it's nothing. I think I have an idea. I'll try again."

Not waiting for a response, Shinichi let his senses open out the way he'd been practicing. Then he focused on the leaf, feeling its presence and the lingering traces of its attachment to the tree from which it had fallen. This time, however, once he had the leaf fixed firmly in his thoughts, he imagined reaching out to it with his hand and picking it up the way he would if he had actually walked over there to do so.

The leaf trembled then lifted off the forest floor.

Shinichi was so surprised that he lost his mental image, and the leaf dropped back to the ground.

"You did it!" Kaito cheered.

"Barely," Shinichi sighed. "But I think I might have a better idea of how to approach all this now."

"That's what counts," Kaito said before turning curious eyes on his young partner. "What changed? You got that look in your eyes just before you got it working that you get when you figure something out."

"Well, I was just thinking about how you said that all of this just comes naturally to you because of what you are. And I realized that the way you think about the world is probably really different from the way I do as a human, and that includes the way you interact with things. So I couldn't do what you were telling me to because I just don't think in those terms," Shinichi explained. "And then I thought how you kept telling me during the meditation that I had to build my own image through which to understand the spiritual energies I've been sensing. That made me think that I should try something like that here too. So I just—used an image I could understand, I guess. Which, for me, was what I said about going over and using my hand."

Kaito nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. "That was smart. The mental imaging I told you is meant to work as a kind of metaphor to help you connect to the world through your magical senses. I see now that my instructions were unhelpful because I forgot to take into consideration the fact that my experiences and perception of how the world works would be almost entirely different from yours."

"That's pretty much what I thought," Shinichi agreed and was puzzled when Kaito sighed.

"I'm sorry," the spirit said in one of his more serious tones which Shinichi rarely heard. "I should have realized all of that from the beginning and been able to offer you better advice."

"Please don't apologize," Shinichi said hastily. "This whole situation is a first for both of us, right? I mean, you've never taught a human how to use spirit magic either, so… We're basically learning together about how to learn this. In my experience, the lessons you learn that way—that you work out for yourself instead of simply being told—are the ones that you remember best. And you also gain the experience of how to work through similar problems, which is always a plus."

Kaito smiled softly at him, indigo eyes full of warmth and a kind of quiet pride that made Shinichi feel more than a little flustered.

Coughing lightly to hide the color in his cheeks, he gestured at the leaf. "I'm going to try that again and see if I can float it all the way over this time."

The exercise was a complete success. And with his new perspective on how he, Shinichi, as a human becoming partially a spirit, could approach this new field of knowledge and craft, he felt just a tiny bit more confident that maybe he could do this after all.

-0-

"For your next lesson, I've decided we're going to work on shape changing," Kaito declared. Today, he had taken Shinichi to the shore of a small but beautiful lake. There were several large, flat rocks on one shore of the lake, several of which jutted out over the water. It was on these little plateaus that the two of them were having their lesson.

"Shape changing?" Shinichi echoed, looking dubious. "You mean like turning into animals and things?"

"Mostly animals more than things," Kaito said. "But yes, that."

"Isn't that like really advanced magic?" Shinichi wondered more than asked. He had always thought of such things as the pinnacle of magical accomplishments. Then again, a spirit's form was entirely controlled by the sprit's whims. So maybe to them, shape changing was no more difficult or special than changing clothes.

Well that was a thought…

"Are you not interested?" Kaito asked, sounding just a little worried. "I mentioned we could go flying before, and I thought you said you'd like that. So I felt that I could teach you how to shape shift into a bird, then I could teach you how to fly. And once you understand the basics of shape shifting, other forms will become accessible as well. And as you get familiar with more forms that are not your own, you'll also become familiar with their ways of interacting with the world and doing things, and then you could apply that knowledge the way you did during the levitation training to broaden the scope of what you can do."

Shinichi blinked, taken aback. "Wow, that's… Actually, you made a lot of good points. I guess you really have been putting a lot of thought into this teaching me magic thing."

"Of course I have," Kaito said, sounding mildly affronted by the suggestion that Shinichi might have thought otherwise. "You are my bride. As your lord, I have a duty to teach you all the things you need to know and to help you adjust to your new role when you choose to finally don your mantle and move in with me."

A plethora of emotions bubbled and whirled through Shinichi at those words. There was love for Kaito of course. There was always love for this incredible, kind yet mischievous being who had introduced him to wonder after wonder and taught him the true extent of the universe and the myriads of mysteries still buried deep within its depths. But there was worry now too that Shinichi might not be able to do whatever it was he was supposed to do as a Spirit Lord's consort. He didn't want to accidentally let Kaito down or do something that might bring him trouble. But despite the worry, there was determination too because, well, wasn't that what it meant to love someone? That you would be willing to try to improve yourself for their sake—to help them and make their lives easier and more enjoyable.

In all honesty, Shinichi didn't know which of those he could do for Kaito, who had been the Lord of Clover Forest longer than Shinichi had been alive and then some. From a logical standpoint, he had very little to offer that would be of any use to someone already so powerful. But he knew also that, just because a person could survive and do well on their own didn't mean that they could truly live that way.

Ironically, it had been Kaito who had taught him that.

Maybe what he could offer Kaito was something much less concrete than help with his work. But those things were so much more difficult to define. He couldn't measure if he was doing well at them or even begin to guess at what more he should be doing.

"Hello~, Clover Forest to Kudo Shinichi, is anyone home?"

Coming out of his thoughts with a guilty jolt, Shinichi pushed the hand Kaito had been waving in front of his face away. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry I got distracted, but I'm ready to try it now. How do we start?"

Kaito smirked. "I'm glad you asked. First, you're going to have to take all your clothes off."

Shinichi blushed. "Why?"

Kaito looked amused. "Isn't it obvious? Animals don't wear clothes, and, if you shape shift while wearing them, you're probably going to damage them or get tangled up."

"But your clothes change with you."

"Ah, but my clothes are ones I fabricate myself using my powers. So I can change them at will. Your clothes are manmade. Different rules apply."

Shinichi had to admit that that made sense. But just because it made sense didn't mean it wasn't awkward. Feeling rather self conscious, he turned his back to Kaito and started to undress. He could feel the weight of Kaito's gaze on him the entire time, and though this was far from the first time Kaito had seen him naked, it still made Shinichi blush.

Doing his utmost best to focus on the task at hand, he set his clothes aside and straightened. "So what do I do next?"

No response.

"Kaito?"

When there was still no answer, Shinichi dared a peek back over his shoulder. He found Kaito sitting on a convenient boulder some half dozen paces behind him, watching him with a rather dreamy expression on his face that brought Shinichi's blush back all over again.

He coughed loudly, both to hide his embarrassment and to get the spirit's attention. "Kaito! I don't know how this works, remember?"

Kaito, who had been momentarily distracted by admiring the way Shinichi's skin almost seemed to glow beneath the caress of the morning sun (and imagining running his hands over said warm, satin soft skin), blinked slowly then offered Shinichi a winning smile. "You're beautiful."

If Shinichi hadn't been blushing before, he would definitely be blushing now. As it was, he ducked his head and turned away again.

"So, um…shape shifting?" he prompted.

"Oh, right. Well, start by picturing a bird."

"Does it matter what kind?"

"Not really. Generally, there are going to be specific shapes that just come more naturally to you. It takes a lot of experience and skill to deviate from those shapes. So there will be one bird you find it easier to be and that you naturally become when you shift into a bird shape. You might not know what it is before you shift, but you'll figure it out when it happens. The important part is to have a clear idea of the overall creature you're aiming to shift into—so, in this case, you want a clear idea of bird-ness."

"…I have no idea what that means."

Kaito reconsidered his words. "Well, I suppose it would be easier for you to choose a specific bird you can picture well. Just try to imbue that image with everything you think of in relation to birds: wings, feathers, the ability to fly, the freedom of flight, the shape they make in the sky—everything a bird should be. Just don't be too disappointed if the bird you turn into isn't what you picture."

"Okay. I can do that," Shinichi muttered more to himself than to Kaito. Closing his eyes, he conjured the image of a bird in his mind, settling on one of the spirit doves that Kaito often used as messengers. They had grown quite fond of Shinichi since he had saved one of their number some time ago, and he had grown very familiar with them in turn.

"Do you have your image?" Kaito asked.

"I do."

"Right. Now place that bird image in front of you. Imagine it's actually standing on the ground before your feet."

"…Okay."

"Now step forward into that image," Kaito instructed. "Imagine yourself becoming one with it. See the world through its eyes."

Eyes still closed in concentration, Shinichi tried to do just that—and promptly fell into the lake with a loud splash. Flustered as he'd been earlier over Kaito's staring, he hadn't realized just how close to the edge of the water he had gotten. He was now reminded.

He surfaced a moment later, spluttering, to the sound of Kaito's laughter. Shinichi rolled his eyes but accepted the hand that Kaito offered him, letting the spirit pull him out of the water.

"How about I teach you how to dry yourself off before we try that again?"

-0-

The lessons continued. They didn't spend all their time on those lessons because, as Kaito pointed out, they had all the time in the world, but time in the present with the humans Shinichi knew now was limited, and life in general was about plenty more than lessons and duties anyway.

Shinichi worked hard though, taking it upon himself to practice at least a little every day even on days when he was at the village bookstore fulltime.

He found that he was quite good at sensing things, and, perhaps because of that, magic related to finding and tracking things came relatively easily to him. He also turned out to have an affinity for healing and growing things—which Kaito had apparently expected due to the Sky Quill incident. With everything else, however, it was a hit and miss, and some magic that worked well for him on some days failed to work at all on others. Shape shifting, for instance, did not come naturally at all. Nor did the manipulation of elements that he knew most people imagined were the very basics of magic.

Shinichi honestly couldn't tell if he was doing well. Kaito said he was, but Shinichi was of the opinion that Kaito was probably biased.

For his part, Kaito was a little puzzled. He was pleased that Shinichi seemed so interested in learning—not just about magic but about the spirit realm in general. Shinichi had always been curious, so this wasn't exactly new, but Kaito still found Shinichi's interest in his world to be reassuring because he wanted his world to be a place that Shinichi could feel at home in one day. At the same time though, he couldn't help but feel that something was bothering his beloved.

He was watching Shinichi coax a sprig of Butterfly Clove he had just transplanted into full bloom when he finally decided to broach the issue because, though he could see that Shinichi was pleased with the little plant's growth, he could also see a certain melancholy in the depths of those sapphire eyes he loved. It was that melancholy that he had been seeing on and off for the last few weeks, he realized, especially after they'd returned from the spirit world's summer solstice celebration.

"Hey Shinichi," he said softly so as not to startle the boy still focused on the black and gold flower. "Is something bothering you?"

Blue eyes flickered up to meet his briefly before dropping back to the Butterfly Clove. "What do you mean?"

Kaito frowned, trying to choose his words carefully. "Well. Ever since we started our magic lessons, I've noticed that you've been…rather invested. You're making progress very quickly in certain areas that it takes some spirits years to develop, but you don't seem satisfied. Is there something in particular that you're hoping to learn to do that we're not working on? Or do you really just not believe me when I say you're doing well?"

Shinichi blinked then blushed and looked down at the Butterfly Clove. "It's not that. I know you mean it when you say I'm making progress. And I do appreciate the things you've been trying to teach me. It's just…"

Shinichi stopped and ran a hand through his hair, big blue eyes troubled. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to put this. I'm probably just over thinking things anyway."

Kaito frowned, sensing that Shinichi was about to clam up again. "It doesn't matter. I still want to hear it. Please," he added when Shinichi continued to hesitate. Stepping closer, he took Shinichi's hands in his and caught his gaze, trying to convey his sincerity. "I want to know what you're thinking. It's important to me."

Shinichi swallowed. "I just…I don't want to let you down."

Kaito stared, taken aback. "You could never let me down."

For some reason, this declaration only earned him an exasperated look. "Let me finish."

Kaito opened his mouth then closed it again, nodding.

Shinichi took a deep breath then continued. "It's just that I… I love you." Shinichi blushed a little as he spoke but motored on in spite of the embarrassment that saying such things still brought him even now. The words came faster and faster as he spoke as though a dam had broken. "I'm grateful we met, and I'm really glad that you chose to make me your partner. But I know that comes with certain duties, but I feel like there's so much that I don't know. And there's so much I can't do or can't do well, and what I'm good at seems… I don't know. Maybe that's the problem. I don't know. I don't know what kinds of duties I have, and I don't know what skills those duties require. I certainly don't know if I'm qualified to take on those duties, especially if they involve magic. And it's confusing and frustrating, but I want to be useful to you. I…want to be able to do something for you since you've always done so much for me. But I realized that, well, you don't really need me, do you?"

Shinichi bowed his head, his bangs falling over his eyes. He hadn't meant to say all of that, but he couldn't exactly un-say it now that it was out.

"Shinichi, look at me," Kaito said, tone soft but unyielding.

Shinichi obeyed on instinct, and blue eyes met indigo.

Kaito's eyes were steely and his hands firm and strong, both holding Shinichi captive in mind and body alike.

"Do you know how long I have been on this Earth?"

Shinichi didn't, and he knew Kaito knew he didn't, so he stayed silent.

Kaito continued. "I have watched this world grow and change for century after century. I have ruled my domain for longer than humanity has had written history. I know that there was a time when this world and all it has to offer was new and amazing to me too, but I have long forgotten even when that was, let alone what it was like. But then this child wandered into my forest without fear, and I remembered. I didn't even realize how lonely I'd gotten until I suddenly had you. You brought light back into my life. I couldn't let you go after that. So I…made some decisions for you that I know weren't really mine to make. You would have had every right to be angry with me, but instead you gave me a chance. You've made me happier than I have ever been.

"I teach you magic and about my world now because I want to help you understand it, and I hope, truly hope, that one day you will love it. Because I asked you to give up your world for me, and you agreed. I need to make sure that the world I give you in return is one that you want to call home. I don't ever want you to regret that you accepted me.

"What I mean is, I love you because you are you. I don't need you to do or be anything else for me. I just want you to be yourself. As for what kinds of duties you want to take on in the future, it's okay to have questions and doubts. I'm here to work them out with you if you'll let me."

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it again, blinking rapidly against the urge to tear up.

"I," he started then had to stop to clear his throat. "Thanks. I guess we were both over thinking a bit, weren't we?"

"It seems so."

Laughing softly, Kaito pulled Shinichi into a tight embrace that Shinichi returned just as intently.

"I'll never regret being with you," Shinichi murmured into Kaito's shoulder. "I just want you to know that."

Kaito's arms tightened around his lover's slender frame as a soft smile curled the corners of his lips and shimmered like starlight in his eyes. "Thank you. That means a lot."

-End of Chapter-