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Moon on the Snow

7: Tracing the Edges

"Does anything strike you as being…off?" Hakuba asked his fellow detective.

"Does anything strike you as being not?" Heiji asked back (only half sarcastically).

The two of them had arrived at the foot of the slopes to find that they were the only people there. The girls, they knew, were waiting back at the top as per the agreement they had come to wherein Heiji would get his race before having to fulfill his promise to teach Kazuha and Keiko how to ski. Aoko was keeping them company while they waited (although in truth, she was also keeping them company because she didn't want to be the only beginner on the hills. Unlike Keiko, she knew how to ski in theory, but she too had never actually done it. She'd assumed Kaito would give her a hand when she made her first attempt, but he had suddenly up and abandoned them. She was so going to have words with him about that later. Noble or not, friends weren't supposed to do that). The two detectives had, however, expected to find Kaito and Shinichi at the bottom of the series of hills. After all, the only logical reason for them to have been gone when the detectives had disembarked from the lift after them was that they had already skied back down. Yet there was no sign of either college student.

Furthermore, neither Hakuba nor Hattori had seen any sign of them as they were descending the slopes either.

"Do you think they could have taken a wrong turn?" the blond asked, glancing back up the snowy hills. "It was a long run."

"But with only one path," his friend pointed out, following his gaze. "Besides, according to Kuroba, this is his family's private lift. He's gotta know this place inside out."

"Then how do you explain why we haven't seen either of them?"

"Well," Hattori drawled after some consideration. "They are dating. Maybe they went off somewhere to, ya know, be alone."

Hakuba looked at him strangely before his meaning clicked, at which point the blond flushed bright red.

"I highly doubt Shinichi would find that appropriate," he managed to splutter once he wrestled his mortification under control.

"Shinichi might not. But I'll bet Kuroba wouldn't see a problem."

Hakuba opened his mouth then shut it again, grimacing. When Heiji put it that way, it certainly sounded like a logical reason for their friends' sudden absence. That didn't mean Hakuba wanted to accept it. Or even think about it.

There were some things you just didn't want to think about in relation to one of your best friends. His love life with an almost certainly slightly crazy magician you didn't entirely trust was one of those things.

Heiji's comments, had, however, reminded the blonde of his conversation with Shinichi over breakfast that morning. His embarrassment gave way then to a more somber concern.

"Do you," he started then stopped as he tried to find the words for what he wanted to say. "Have you noticed anything about the two of them today?"

Hattori frowned, turning to begin the slow trudge back to the foot of the ski lift. "What do ya mean? Anything about what?"

"They both seemed…distracted."

"They did seem a bit out of it," Heiji admitted. He stepped out of his skis and picked them up in preparation for the trip back up the slopes. "I thought maybe they'd caught colds or something. When you're sharing a room, if one person gets a nasty cold, the other's bound to catch it too. But I figured they'd insist we just go on with what we'd planned because they didn't want us to miss out because they were feeling ill or something."

"Well, maybe," Hakuba conceded. "It just seemed to me like perhaps they'd argued."

"All couples do that sometimes," Heiji reasoned. "Though it didn't look like they were fighting to me."

"I suppose you would know."

Heiji glowered. "Oi, can't you go ten minutes without insulting me?"

"It was merely an observation. It is not my fault if you choose to take it as an insult."

"Yeah right. Whatever."

X

Elsewhere, the young couple in question sat side by side on a slowly rising lift traveling from nowhere to nowhere in a world of endless skies and clouds.

"So do you feel up to going back yet?" Kaito asked. "Or is there something else you'd like to talk about first?"

"I don't know," Shinichi admitted after some thought as he let his head rest against Kaito's shoulder. "I feel like we've barely scratched the surface, but there's already so much to think about. I still have so many questions that I don't know where to start, and more just keep popping up."

Kaito chuckled. "Well, I never expected to cover everything in one sitting. It's going to take time, but I promise, we'll find your answers together. We just need to take this puzzle on one piece at a time. That is how mysteries are solved, yes?"

It was Shinichi's turn to laugh despite his worries. "True."

"Are there any other more immediate worries I can help you with before we go back to the others?"

Shinichi's breath left him in a soft, slightly weary sigh. "I'm not sure. But I…don't think I want to go back just yet."

"That's perfectly fine," Kaito said, smiling softly down at the top of Shinichi's head. "We could just sit here a little longer while you think. Or, if anything from our discussion earlier struck your interest, I can elaborate on it for you."

"It was all really interesting," Shinichi replied earnestly. "But I guess, well, could you tell me a bit more about the development of magic?"

"Do you mean historically or in relation to the bond?" asked Kaito.

"More like with us," Shinichi replied a bit hesitantly. "You talked about how personal affinities and things like that affect the way an individual's magic might evolve. You also mentioned that your magic would influence the way mine changes. So, well, if I am indeed developing magic, how do you think it's going to go?"

Kaito sighed. "You know I can only guess, right?"

"I know. But one reason this is hard to think about for me is because I really have no idea what is or isn't possible. I think hearing you speculate a bit will at least give me a better picture of the field, so to speak."

The demon nodded slowly, indigo eyes thoughtful. "I can see that. Well, we already know that you have an affinity for divination, including the ability to sense and see things that others cannot. In that regard, it's no surprise really that you've started dream walking. It is a related skill. It may or may not have mattered that I know some dream shaping, although it's not what I'd call a specialty."

"So what are your specialties?" Shinichi asked curiously. "You said something about space before."

"Yep. Dad and I are both naturals at anything relating to space and dimensions. Transformation magic also comes easily to us."

"Would that be like shape shifting?"

"That's one brand of transformation magic, yes. But it's only one. Pretty much anything that involves turning one thing into something else is related. Changing a material's physical properties or composition, for example."

"That sounds really broad," Shinichi observed.

Kaito chuckled. "It is. And it's very useful. Beyond that, I'm also quite good with wind and fire."

"You certainly seem to have a lot of specialties."

Kaito shrugged. "Great House, remember? Most of us are at least proficient in most branches of magic. It's expected of us. A standard demon education takes roughly half a century. Then you get to the advanced stuff that's actually optional. Magic alone qualifies as more than a dozen different subjects."

Shinichi blinked. He could just imagine the horror most kids in his world would feel at the thought of fifty plus years of school. He doubted even the thought of learning real magic would make that sound appealing to many.

"I take it that means you study more than just your specialties," Shinichi said thoughtfully.

"Yep. There are basics that everyone learns, and most demons will try a bit of everything after that. The smart ones will go on to learn as much as they can in each field then expand on those that they find easiest. From there, you develop your skills into a true specialty."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

"It can be," Kaito admitted. "But if there's anything we have, it's time."

Shinichi nodded slowly. He supposed that time-consuming hobbies were a must when you lived as long as Kaito's people did.

"Do all the Great Houses specialize in different things?" he asked.

"It's sort of worked out that way," Kaito replied. "Though there's always overlap. And we do occasionally collaborate. The Eternal Tide, for instance, tends to be good with medicine, poisons, plants and magical tools. Elementally, they tend towards wind and water. Historically, both the Phantom Moon and the Burning Ash have worked with them quite a bit. They've made themselves the go-to people for anyone looking to craft a magical tool."

"Do your people share your specialties?"

Kaito laughed. "Heavens, no. Well, not except by coincidence anyway. Our allegiances were forged long ago, and, if they were based on anything, it would have been philosophies."

Shinichi considered that then nodded. "That's good."

Kaito's eyebrows rose at the unexpected response. "How so?"

Shinichi cast him a sidelong look then turned his gaze out to the endless sea of sky and cloud around them as though he could find the horizon if he just looked hard enough. "I guess it's just a relief."

"I don't follow."

Shinichi gave a slightly uncomfortable half shrug. "I…guess I've been worried about what to expect about, well, everything. You're always telling me how things are different between demons and humans. It makes it difficult to think about what it would be like to live here. But I know you, and I know your parents, and you've told me quite a bit about your Dad's perspective on things and the ideas he promotes. And, well, if your people are like you and follow you because of who you are and because they believe in your vision then I think I'll be able to understand them—if not right away then eventually."

Since Shinichi wasn't looking at him, he missed the way Kaito went still as he reeled silently at the sudden revelation that Shinichi might actually be considering what it would be like to live with him. In his world.

It was what he wanted, but it wasn't something he'd planned to bring up for at least another few years. A giddy excitement bubbled up in the demon's chest, but he forced it down with an effort because he didn't want to overreact and end up putting pressure on Shinichi when the detective was obviously working hard to think through the paths ahead of them.

Shinichi was in the middle of making a choice, Kaito realized. One for which the detective was gathering information.

True to his thoughts, Shinichi spent the next few minutes asking more questions about magic: its branches of study, common uses, training, role in society, and so on and so forth until they both realized their throats were getting dry from talking.

"I think I'm ready to go back now," Shinichi said, turning fully to smile up into Kaito's face. The expression, the demon noted, was genuine now and much more relaxed, the earlier tension long eased. "I'll have more questions later, but I think I'll need a little time first to assimilate everything you've told me."

"I'll be here whenever you're ready to talk," Kaito promised. Then, because the relief of seeing Shinichi's smile again was nearly overwhelming, Kaito caught the detective's chin and pulled him into a soft, lingering kiss.

He knew Shinichi was still scared about what might be happening to him, but the boy wasn't running. He was doing his best to learn all he could in an endeavor to make sense of the situation and how they could deal with it, and that meant he intended to stay.

Kaito couldn't put into words just how much that meant to him.

He hugged Shinichi again, tucking the smaller boy's head under his chin and holding him close.

"We'll make this work," he declared, voice quiet but fierce. "I promise."

X

Aoko, Keiko and Kazuha all enjoyed their first trip down the slopes, though Keiko had difficulty stopping and ended up zooming straight down the many hills, building up speed, until she'd been launched straight out and over the lake—into which she promptly fell in a great fountain of freezing water. After that, she had excused herself to go get dry, and Kazuha had gone with her to help, leaving Aoko alone with Hakuba and Heiji.

She listened to the two bicker about whose lousy teaching had caused Keiko to have her accident. When they were finished with that, they moved on to arguing about which of them had the more masterful skills, which naturally led to another challenge to see who could race to the bottom of the slopes fastest while performing an actual trick jump.

Aoko found herself musing at just how different the three human males she now knew all were from one another despite all being detectives.

Then again, she supposed that that should have been self evident. No two demons were the same even when they were from the same House and occupied similar roles. The same would naturally be true for humans too. It was just that she'd never really spent much time thinking about what humans might be like on an individual level. She'd always just sort of had an image in her head of what humans were like and arbitrarily decided that most of them must fit into that mold.

It was a silly way to think and an even sillier, shallow way to decide what someone you'd never met must be like. Realizing she'd been thinking in just that way was making her feel embarrassed on multiple levels. But then again, she supposed, it was never too late to start doing better.

Just behind the bickering detectives, a lift bench arrived, and Kaito and Shinichi disembarked.

"Oh, you weren't waiting for us, were you?" Shinichi asked then looked around. "Where are Kazuha and Miss Keiko?"

"Keiko ski jumped right into the lake, so Kazuha-san took her back to the villa," Aoko explained.

Kaito glanced down the frosted slopes, measuring the distance between the apex of the last rise and the lake with his eyes. Then he whistled. "That must have been some jump. Sorry we missed it."

Heiji broke off from his bickering with Hakuba to level the two newcomers with a look. "Where were you two anyway? We've been up and down a few times already, and we never passed you. Now here you are behind us. What gives? "

Shinichi sighed. "We needed to talk."

Heiji's lips twitched in what might have been thinly veiled amusement. "Talk."

"…Yes?" he replied uncertainly.

"About?"

Shinichi's confused frown deepened. "It's private. Why are you looking at me like that?"

His fellow detectives shared a distinctly loaded look that he didn't understand at all. Was that a smirk on Heiji's face? What was he missing?

Hakuba coughed lightly, abruptly looking very uncomfortable. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Right. Like that wasn't suspicious at all.

Shinichi narrowed his eyes at his friends, who both developed sudden, intense interests in the landscape. He glanced over at Kaito to see if the demon had any idea what was going on, but Aoko and dragged Kaito away and was whispering at him furiously. She seemed to be telling him off. It didn't look like something Shinichi wanted to interrupt.

"How about a race?" Heiji asked. "Last one down owes the others a round of coffee when we get back home."

Hakuba rolled his eyes. "What is it with you and competition?"

"What's with you and being a stick in the mud?" the Osakan shot back.

The blond detective bristled.

Shinichi bit back a sigh as the two once again fell to bickering. He couldn't decide if his friends were trying to distract him from asking further questions or just being their usual, squabbling selves. Whichever the case though, it was clear he wasn't going to be getting an explanation.

But maybe, just this once, he didn't need to add yet more problems to his plate. At least not before they actually proved to be problems.

Kaito strode up beside him and slung an arm over his shoulders. "Did I hear something about a race?"

TBC