Chapter Text
A breeze gently swayed the grass, clouds slowly rolling along over head, a radio droning on about the weather for the evening, and Shinichi was still on the grass. His eyes were closed but he was nowhere near sleep, no matter how tempting the warm breeze made it seem. As the radio finished wrapping up the weather report, Shinichi reached over and shut the radio off, slowly standing and making his way back to his house, across a small stream and down a dirt road from the field he had been lounging in. He ducked beneath a hole in the fence, he couldn’t be bothered to run all the way to the front gate, and made sure to stick to the paths as he ran through the garden. His parents worked hard on the garden and it showed, the flowers were in full bloom, making his house seem like some kind of nursery, all kinds of different flora were on display.
“Conan!” he called as he ran passed the porch, “Get ready, we’re going to leave tonight!” The black cat he had called to startled out of his nap, but Shinichi didn’t stay. “Mom!”, he leaned through the open window into his mother‘s potion room, “It’s going to be a full moon tonight, and totally clear!”
“Shinichi, did you borrow your father’s radio without permission again?” Yukiko replied, still focused on the potion she was currently making.
“Yeah, my bad.” Shinichi came through the door, walking passed the countless drying flowers his mother had cluttering the room. He gave a quick hello to the customer in the room before continuing, “I’ve decided, I want it to be tonight.”
“Tonight?” Yukiko startled, “I thought we had decided it would be next month!”
“But next month it might be cloudy! I want to leave at the perfect full moon.” Shinichi turned to leave the room, excitement fueling him.
“Shinichi, wait!” his mother called, but her son was long gone.
“What’s this about leaving?” the elderly customer asked.
“Oh, it’s a tradition, a young witch leaves home at age sixteen for a year for their training,” Yukiko replied, letting out a small sigh.
“Shinichi is already sixteen? My how the years fly. I can still remember when you arrived in this town. A young 16 year-old girl on a broomstick, eyes shining. At first I thought you were a little stuck up,” the elderly woman laughed.
“But Shinichi can’t do much but fly, male witches usually struggle, that’s why they are so uncommon, but Shinichi is determined. Honestly I wish he would just stay here and learn to make potions so he can take over one day.”
“Oh, but children are always eager to leave the nest. Everything changes bit by bit.”
Shinichi was up in his room, stuffing as much as he could into a duffle bag, Conan looking on with a sour expression on his face. “You are always telling me to hurry, but now you don’t want to go? Who’s the slowpoke now?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Conan replied, his ears pulled back in distaste, “I just think it would be better to have a dignified and elegant farewell.”
“If I put it off and fall in love or something, then what? Then I would never leave.”
“That would never happen, who would want to date you?” Shinichi shot the cat a glare. “I’m just worried. Once you’ve left, you can’t come back.”
“I know that.” Shinichi pulled some mementos and a tin of money from his book shelf, stuffing them into the bag. “Isn’t it exciting though?”
Through Shinichi’s open window, the you witch heard the sound of a car coming down the driveway. “Dad!” he called, leaning out the window, “I’ve decided to leave tonight.”
“Tonight?” His father’s voice was flat with shock, but Shinichi either didn’t care or didn’t notice.
“Yeah, tonight! I just decided.”
“But what about the trip we were planning for this weekend?” His father looked disheartened at the news, their car already partly packed with camping supplies.
“Sorry!” was the only answer Shinichi gave as he left the view of the window to continue packing.
About an hour later, his parent’s had accepted their son’s decision and were doing their best to prepare for his departure. His father was busy making phone calls to friends and family to inform them of the departure, most surprised at the abrupt decision, those some of Shinichi’s friends were unsurprised at the suddenness. His mother, meanwhile, was with Shinichi in his room as he donned the traditional training wear, a long black cloak with a black button up and trousers for boys. “Not bad,” Yukiko mused, glad that the garment didn’t need to be adjusted in any way.
“I just wished it didn’t have to be black,” Shinichi grumbled. Why did black have to be proper color? And you would think that there would be some variation to a uniform that you were required to wear for an entire year.
“Come on, Shin-chan, it doesn’t matter what color it is. All that is important is how you present yourself to others. Besides, black is very slimming!” his mother teased, earning an eye roll from her son. “Well, be sure to write as soon as you find some place to settle down.” His mother embraced him with a bit more squeeze than usual, betraying how sad she was to see her son go.
“Of course,” the young witch replied, with confidence pouring off of him as his mother left the room, “Oh, hey dad,” he said upon his father entering the room, “you don’t mind if I take your radio do you?”
“You use it so often it’s practically yours already, go right ahead.” His father took a seat on his son’s twin sized bed. “You look just like your mother when she came to this town,” his father said, a soft look on his face.
“Oh come on,” Shinichi grumbled, “I look nothing like her.”
“You’re more like your mother than you realize Shinichi. Definitely just as stubborn.” Shinichi gave his father an annoyed look as he stood and embraced his son. “ How did you grow up so fast,” His father emphasized with a squeeze, “Remember, you can always come home if things aren’t working out.
“And come back to such a small bed, no thanks,” Shinichi joked as he pulled slightly away. He and his father shared a small laugh before his father spoke.
“I hope you find a good town.” He had a wistful expression on his face and he pulled his son in for one more hug.
That night, the Kudo household was abuzz with people. Most of the adults fussing over the idea of sending their child to an unknown location for an entire year without any kind of supervision. Shinichi’s friends, on the other hand, were full of excitement. “What kind of town are you looking for?” One friend, nearly bursting at the seams with curiosity, questioned, “A big town?”
“I hope,” Shinichi replied, full of excitement, “I want to be by the ocean.”
“The ocean?” Another said with a dreamy look in her eye, “That sounds so wonderful, Shinichi!”
“Yeah, but I’m not going just for fun, you know, the next year is going to be dedicated to training.”
“You won’t just be training,” Yet another teased, “You are most definitely going to make friends and go to party and stuff. A male witch? You’re a hot ticket item.” His friends’ were barely able to keep a straight face, the image of their friend becoming a party boy too ridiculous, it made them all laugh.
“Shinichi! It’s just about time!” Yukiko called, her trusty broom in hand. Shinichi nearly ran over to her, his excitement uncontainable. “I want you to have this broom,” his mother began, her voice serious, “It was passed down to me when I left home and has never steered me wrong, I know you will always be safe on this broom.” She gently held out the broom to her son, who took it with an equally as gently hand. Overwhelmed with emotion, his mother planted a kiss on his cheek, tears welling in her eyes. “Be careful,” she said as Yusaku took his son into a hug.
“Go get ‘em” he said, tone light though he was teary eyed as well. With a grin, the young witch turned from his parents and quickly got himself into position to take off, Conan resting on the bag slung over his shoulder, and a chorus of “good byes” and “good lucks” from his friends.
With a deep breath, he focused himself, feeling his magic hum through him and into the broom, which responded with its own small hum, letting him know it was ready for flight. Slowly, Shinichi lifted off of the ground the magic making his cloak flare out and his hair blow with the wind. Then, suddenly, he shot off, colliding with a couple of the tall pine trees in their yard.
“He never did learn to hold back,” Yukiko said with a sigh watching the figure of Shinichi regain his composure on the broom, already a good distance away from home.
“Which way are we going?” Conan said, finally gaining his balance on the now steadied broomstick.
“South,” Shinichi replied, “Like I said, I want to see the ocean.” The rest of town passed beneath him, the few lights still on at the late hour disappearing and leaving Shinichi and his cat with only the light of the moon and stars, reflecting off of the lake below them. “Conan, go turn on the radio.”
“Huh? Why do I have to do it?” The small cat complained.
“Because,” Shinichi retorted, “I’m busy steering a flying broom.” With a grumble, the cat slowly slinked forward on the broom and managed to hit the on button of the radio, which was currently hung around the neck of the broom. The nearly silent night was filled with music and Shinichi, with glee, brought the broom up to a higher altitude, enjoying the freedom of flying and the anticipation of what the next twelve months held.
Shinichi and Conan had been travelling for several hours, passing over small towns, vast stretches of farmland, and over factories pouring out smoke, which was an unpleasant breathing experience. The cool night air was starting to get to Shinichi, he was glad he was leaving in May instead of a cooler month. Conan had decided to take a nap instead of keeping him company, so Shinichi was relying on the presence of the radio to keep him awake.
Suddenly, the sky split open, and a heavy downpour pelted into the young witch. If he wan’t cold before, he certainly was now, the water soaking through his clothes and a burst of wind had him scrambling to regain control of the broom. “I thought you said the radio reported that the weather would be clear?” Conan complained, now thoroughly annoyed that he was both woken up and soaked.
“That was what the radio said.” Shinichi retorted, bringing the broom lower to the ground, eyes scanning for some kind of shelter. “There!” he said, pointing to a parked train. He flew lower, racing across the top to look for an opening.
“You’re not seriously thinking of staying in here, are you?” Conan complained as Shinichi managed to drop into an opening in a roof. Once they had landed firmly on the hay, he made quick work to close the small door and cut off the rain. “Won’t we get in trouble?”
“Not if we’re not found. And if we are, we’ll just explain the situation.” Shinichi shivered the icy water quickly reaching his bones. He felt heavy tired. Moving further away from the opening the pair had come through, he was pleased to find that the hay was fresh and dry. He quickly peeled off his layers leaving him in his underclothes, spreading out his cloak, shirt and pants, as well as his bag, so they had a chance to dry. The hay was slightly itchy, but it was better than being stuck outside, and Shinichi’s eyes were so heavy that he couldn’t muster the energy to actually care. Conan pattered up beside him and curled against his side, and both fell asleep to the drone of the passing storm.
Shinichi was awoken with a start, his foot had suddenly entered the open air and something strange was touching it. He panicked and struggled for a moment to pull the appendage back up. Burrowing his way through the hay, he was met with the sight of cows. “I can’t believe you made us sleep in their breakfast, Shinichi.” Conan mocked as the witch pulled on his clothes, now significantly less wet then they were last night, but still a bit damp, making him shiver when it touched his skin. Once dressed, he opened up the hatch they had come through the night before and pulled himself up to look out.
The sight was gorgeous. The storm from the night before was nowhere in sight and the sun was reflecting off of the water in the distance. The now moving train rumbled along the track past scattered houses. “Conan, look, the ocean!” Shinichi grinned as the cat poked his head out of the hatch.
“It just looks like a big lake.”
“Aw, come on,” Shinichi prodded, glee radiating off his person. As the train began to round a corner, Shinichi was able to spot a large town in the distance. “Look at that, Conan! It’s huge. You think they have other witches there?”
“How am I supposed to know that?” The small cat complained. Shinichi only shrugged in response. The young witch quickly ducked back into the train car and gathered up his things, then pulled himself onto the roof of the train. His takeoff was far more graceful than the one the other night, the scent of the ocean filling the pair’s noses as they flew toward the town.
They stayed high at first, observing the buildings and people. The square he was currently hovering over was simply bustling with activity. People got in and out of buses, crossed streets in large groups, and streamed through a farmer’s market, constantly moving, never still. Shinichi was particularly intrigued by a clocktower which stood high over the tower, it’s large, metal hands gleaming in the morning sun. Shinichi waved at the maintenance man who gawked at the boy as he flew fast the face. “Let’s get a closer look at the ground, Conan,” Shinichi said happily, curiosity lighting up his face. Shinichi carefully maneuvered his way down closer to the crowded sidewalk hovering just above the heads of the citizens. As he cautiously maneuvered around street corners, he started to hear more gasps and murmurs.
“I don’t like it here,” Conan complained, “It’s way to crowded and everyone is staring at us.” Shinichi rolled his eyes.
“Of course they are, just smile and make a good impression.” The tiny cat huffed, but complied. Shinichi was able to keep up the good appearance for just a moment before the nervousness he felt caused his broom to jerk, almost hitting a few people. Mortified, he speed up and rounded a corner that wasn’t to busy. Gently, he touched done, gracefully, if he should say so himself, slipping off the broom. Everyone nearby stopped and stared at him causing his face to flush, but he just gave a smile and a wave before he started to walk away.
“Hey, kid! Stop!” someone shouted after him. Startled, Shinichi turned around to come face to face with a police officer. He almost comically gulped. “What do you think you were doing, you could have seriously hurt someone!” the officer yelled at him. Startled, Shinichi was unable to form a sentence. “Honestly, I’m sure this is why most witches are female, male ones are obviously incompetent.” Shinichi’s embarrassment turned into rage. Who did this man think he was, insulting Shinichi like that. Even Conan, who was usually the most critical about his performance gave a little growl, his tail beginning to flick in annoyance. “I’m going to have to give you a ticket for this, you’re underage, yes? I’ll need you name and address, your parents have to know about how reckless a driver you are.” The man pulled out a notepad and pen, and Shinichi was about to tell the man off until someone else cut in.
“Help, thief! Someone help, please!” A woman’s voice cried in an awful, shrieking tone. Impossible to ignore, the policeman looked between the young witch and the direction the cry came from and took off for the latter. Seizing the opportunity provided to him, Shinichi began to walk quickly away from the scene. As he took down a side street, he jogged a little ways before slowing down back to a walk.
“What a complete jerk,” Conan muttered, tail still flicking in annoyance, “I feel like we should almost be thankful for that thief.”
“That’s a terrible thing to say, Conan,” Shinichi reprimanded, “but I have to agree, if that thief hadn’t shown up, I would have probably gotten myself into more trouble.”
“Hey!” someone called from behind him. Shinichi felt dread that the officer had found him and turned around sharply, startled when he only saw a boy on a bicycle catch up to him. The boy looked startlingly like himself, there were differences, however. He had messy hair, and his eyes were a different shade than his own. There was a spark of mischief in them to, accented by his grin that reminded Shinichi a little to much of a cat eyeing a canary. “Did you make it away okay?” Shinichi eyed him in confusion. “Oh!” the boy laughed, “Of course you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about. I was the one who called thief, good plan, huh?” The witch’s confusion turned into shock. How was this boy able to imitate voices so well? Did he drink a potion of some kind, a spell. The boy laughed at his confused look, I’m a magician, being able to imitate voices has its advantages.
Oh. A magician. The people who only dream of what real witches are able to do, mere imitations. “You’re a witch, right? I saw you fly in on your broom. That is so cool! Can I see it? Is it your magic that makes it fly, or can it fly even if a regular person is on it?”
“Would you shut up?” Shinichi snapped, startling the boy so bad that he almost lost control of his bike. “I don’t want you touching my broom, and I didn’t ask for your help,but you did, so thank you, I guess. Now, I would appreciate it if you would leave me alone, I don’t want to hang around a magician .” With a huff, Shinichi picked up speed, walking fast enough that Conan had to sink his claws into the bag so he wouldn’t fall off.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit cruel?” The boy caught back up with him, seemingly undeterred by Shinichi’s harsh words. “Magicians aren’t all that bad, well, I guess we do pale in comparison with the real thing.”
“Just leave me alone!” Shinichi shouted, making a quick turn down a narrow alleyway, causing the boy on the bicycle to have to struggle to make the turn. He was too slow, however, as Shinichi had already taken off on the broom again and was too far away for the boy to stop him.
“He is so cool.” The boy murmured.
“Shinichi! I’m tired!” Conan complained.
“You have barely even walked today, you’ve just been sitting on my bag!” Shinichi snapped back.
“Doesn’t mean I’m not tired of moving,” The cat grumbled, “We’ve been walking around town all day and we still haven’t found a place to stay.” Shinichi sighed. The cat wasn’t wrong. They had been to every hotel they found, but couldn’t find one that would either allow a cat or let him pay in installments, he had only brought enough money to last the first week, after all. Suddenly feeling exhausted, he rested against the wall in front of him. It blocked off a sharp drop that let him have a gorgeous view of the town leading up to the coast, the setting sun glinting off of the water. The smell of bread wafting out of the nearby bakery made his stomach rumble.
“Let’s just find another town,” Conan suggested, “There are town that are bigger than this one, and many more along the coast. Maybe we can find one that are more accommodating to witches.” Shinichi just groaned in response, he didn’t like the idea of traveling more, plus this town was gorgeous.
“Ma’am!” A young woman ran up to the ledge, startling Shinichi out of his sulk. “Ma’am you forgot your pacifier!” She called, waving the foretold item in her hand. Shinichi followed where she was looking down the path to where a woman was pushing a baby carriage. The woman was far too far to hear the young woman beside him. “The poor think will start crying if it doesn’t get this back,” she told herself. Shinichi watched her run over to the bakery, excuse herself from her patrons, and start heading toward the path that would lead her down the hill.
“I could bring it to her,” Shinichi said, startling himself as much as the girl. He didn’t know why he offered, maybe it was the good natured look on the girl’s face that compelled him to say something.
“Could you really?” The girl’s face lit up, “That would be such a big help.” Her smile began pulling Shinichi’s lips into a similar expression.
“It wouldn’t be a problem,” he said. The girl handed over the pacifier and Shinichi immediately jumped up onto the ledge. “Come on Conan,” he said to the cat who had gotten quite settled on the warm concrete. Once the feline was settled he got his broom into position and jumped off the ledge. He heard the girl give a small shout, but just concentrated on letting his magic flow into the broom. It was easier than if it had been the first time he had taken flight that day, residual energy was left, letting the broom easily catch him and gain air. The cooling air gently whipped against his face, traces of the sea in its scent. He heard his robe whip around in the gentle breeze, the quiet of the air relaxing. Eventually, he caught up to the poor mother, whose child had began crying, and quickly dismounted. “Sorry to bother you, ma’am,” Shinichi said in his most polite tone, “I’m sorry to bother you, but you forgot this back at the bakery.” Shinichi was about to hand it back to the mother, but the baby made grabbing motions toward his hands, so he relented and gave the child their pacifier instead. It made both the mother and Shinichi giggle.
When Shinichi arrived back at the bakery, the girl was busy with the cash registered, several customers crowding around the counter. “Come on in!” she called to him when she noticed his appearance, I’ll talk to you in just a minute.” Then the customers stole back her attention.
“She’s pretty.” Conan said. It was true, the girl was around Shinichi’s age, with long brown hair and pretty blue eyes. He hadn’t noticed at first, but now that he had the chance to just observe her, it was quite obvious, she was incredibly pretty. He moved himself out of the way of the crowd and just watched the girl. She was constantly smiling and chatting familiarly with the customers, at one point an older man, presumably her father, emerged from the back carrying a fresh tray of bread, the smell once again causing Shinichi’s stomach to growl, in turn causing Conan to laugh at him.
A few minutes later, the girl escorted the some customers out of the door and turned her attention to the young witch. “You really scared me earlier, jumping off of the ledge like that!” She sounded concerned, which touched Shinichi, she was possibly the nicest person he had met all day.
“Sorry about that,” Shinichi replied, “The lady wanted me to give this to you.” He handed the girl the note he had received. She took it gently and quickly a small smile graced her lips as she continued to read. “Well,” Shinichi started, “I’ll see you around.”
“Wait!” The girl grabbed his sleeve, “Can’t you at least stay for a drink, to thank you?” The expression the girl was making was unable to deny, so Shinichi found himself agreeing to stay. With a luminous smile, the girl lead him into the back room, past the older man at the counter who gave him a glare as he walked by. The girl led the young witch past a kitchen, bowls of rising dough littering the counter, trays, both clean and dirty, were stacked in various locations, the smell of fresh baked goods overpowering all his other senses. Eventually, he was led up some stairs and into a small, but cozy, kitchen/dining room.
“Have a seat, I’ll make some tea.” The girl busied herself with a kettle resting on the stovetop as Shinichi took a seat at the table. Conan hopped off of his bag and onto the table giving him a knowing look. The witch was half tempted just to shove the smug creature into his bag. “Here we are!” the girl said, moving over to the table with a steaming mug of tea, placing it in front of Shinichi, whose senses were delighted at the prospect of a hot drink, and a small saucer of milk in front of Conan, whose joyous expression made the girl giggle.
“So,” the girl began, taking a seat and sipping at a mug of her own, “are you a witch in training? I’ve never met a male witch before.”
“Most people haven’t,” Shinichi said, taking a drink of the tea, “It seems most people in this town have never met a witch period.” He let out a sigh, tension easing in his shoulders as he allowed himself to relax.
“Most of them probably haven’t, but it doesn’t mean they don’t like you. I like you and I just met you, that has to count for something, right?” She punctuated the end of her sentence with a small wink at Conan, who got so flustered he managed to spill some milk. “So, where are you staying?” she inquired, eyes bright with curiosity. The question caused Shinichi to sigh, sending a frustrated, tired look into his cup. After a moment, the girl spoke up again. “If you don’t have a place to stay, you’re welcome to stay here. We have a spare room you could use.”
“Seriously? You would let me stay?” Shinichi’s eyes lit up in hope, the youthful expression new on his face to the girl, making her giggle.
“Of course,” she replied, “It’s in the attic, so it’s a little dusty, but nothing a little bit of cleaning can’t fix. But I’m getting ahead of myself, my name is Mouri Ran, it’s a pleasure to meet you, you really helped me out today.”
“My name is Kudou Shinichi, and this is my cat Conan.”
After closing the store, Ran lead Shinichi up to the attic, a room separate from the rest of the house, so there was definitely a sense of privacy, something for which Shinichi was thankful. “Like I said, it’s a little dusty,” Ran said, opening the door into a spacious room. A bed was pushed against the far wall next to a fireplace. A small desk and chair was pushed up to a window, allowing it to be lit with natural light. “Are you sure you want to clean it yourself? It looks like a lot of work.” Ran set down the mop and bucket she had insisted on carrying up the stairs.
“I’m sure,” Shinichi grinned, “You were so kind to offer a room, the least I could do is clean it up.”
“Well, okay then.” Ran gave him a smile as she left the room, “Let me know if you need anything, bathroom is at the bottom of the stairs.” Shinichi waved her goodbye then turned back to the dusty room.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” Conan asked, a sneeze shaking his entire body. “It’s kinda a lot.”
“I said I would do it myself, so I will.” Shinichi mustered up all his determination and went to open the window to ventilate the room.
“I’m going to turn white from all this flour and dust.” Conan complained; Shinichi, however, was gazing out the window.
“Conan, we can see the ocean from here!” the boy said excitedly. The cat hopped up onto the desk so he could see as well. It really was a beautiful view. The setting sun was almost out of view, casting the light against the waves and barely illuminating the tiny yard the bakery housed out back. Only a few other houses were visible, giving the place an almost isolated feel, at least, it didn’t feel like it was in the middle of such a big city. Shinichi let out a sigh, his worries about finding a job crashing back over him, which Conan, of course, picked up on.
“Should we try to find another city?” Conan offered once again, but Shinichi made no reply, he just continued to stare out at the ocean.
Night soon fell, Shinichi had managed to get a small amount of cleaning down, mainly cleaning the mattress and making the bed. He was currently lying in said bed, listening to the news. “Conan,” he said, earning a soft murmur from the cat curled up beside him, “I’m not going to leave. If people like Ran can exist in this town then others like her should be here too.” The cat didn’t give a reply, seemingly fallen asleep, so Shinichi turned off the radio and settled in for the night.
Sunlight streamed through the window and foghorns echoed in the distance. Shinichi stirred in his sleep, the old mattress begging him to remain asleep. Slowly, he dragged himself out of bed and down the stairs to the bathroom, the cool morning air helping to relieve the sleep from his system. His feet were particularly cold and the morning dew slipping in despite his slippers did not help in the slightest. He quickly hurried back up to the comfort and safety of his room.
Conan woke up to the sound of paper rustling. Shinichi had pulled out all of the money he had taken with him and was trying to budget. “How much do you think a phone would cost, Conan?” Shinichi asked when he saw the cat had stirred.
“I don’t know,” the cat grumbled, “Why?”
“Well, I’m going to have to make money somehow,” Shinichi said, “so why not start our own business!”
When Shinichi entered the bakery, the smell of fresh bread filled his nose. Ran was moving trays of fresh loves into the shop as her father was loading another tray into the stone oven. “Good morning,” Shinichi announced as he walked through the door.
“Oh!” Ran exclaimed, a bright smile on her face, “did you sleep well?”
“I did,” Shinichi smiled back, “but now my mouth is watering, can I help?” Ran gave a short nod and Shinichi quickly scooped up the still warm tray of bread, following Ran out to the front. “So,” Shinichi began, “I was thinking about starting a delivery service.”
“A delivery service?” Ran questioned.
“Well,” Shinichi said, embarrassment coloring his tone, “Flying is my best skill, so I thought a flying delivery service would be my best option.”
“Shinichi, that sounds fantastic!” Ran’s eyes lit up. “You can run it right out of the room upstairs!”
“You’re really okay with me doing that?” Shinichi felt his heart swell with hope, Ran really was kindest person on the planet.
“Of course! It isn’t any trouble at all!”
“I’m planning on putting a phone up there too.”
“A phone?” Ran’s smile fell a little and Shinichi felt his heart stop. “But Shinichi, phone’s are so expensive.” Ran walked back into the kitchen, Shinichi trailing behind like a lost puppy.
“I’ll pay for it! Don’t worry, I have money for it.” Ran picked up another two trays of bread with easy while Shinichi fumbled picking up one.
“Shinichi, what I mean is, you can just use our phone.” Ran returned to the storefront, putting the bread up for display. “Gaining regulars takes a while, so if you help out around here, I’ll count it as your rent, including use of the phone, how does that sound? And maybe a free breakfast too.” Ran added with a wink. Shinichi’s smile was threatening to split his face in two.
“Ran, thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me! You’re an actual saint!”
“I try,” Ran giggled.
Shinichi spent the next week working in the shop, tending to customers, cleaning the storefront, tidying up his room, until Ran gave him the weekend off. “Conan!” Shinichi called, leaning out of his window, “I finished cleaning up, let’s go shopping!” The tiny black cat scurried down the rooftop to jump onto his witch’s shoulder.
“Remind me why we’re going into town again.” Conan’s eyes pointed back in displeasure.
“Because,” Shinichi rolled his eyes, “Ran can’t provide everything for us, the point of this year is to make it on our own, not on the kindness of someone else.” Shinichi ran across the street, angering a driver, but too excited to see what the shops in his new town were like.
“You need to stop running into the street,” Conan scolded, “They aren’t like the streets back home.”
“Yeah yeah.” Shinichi waved off the cat’s comment, stuffing his hands into his cloak’s pockets. He walked down the street, observing the people who passed by. Some stuffy looking older people wore elaborate suits and hats, looking far more fancy than most of the people Shinichi's age who wore far more casual clothes. Shinichi’s eyes lingered on the boys, who wore stylish jackets and vibrantly colored pants. He was suddenly all to aware of how warm he was in his all black outfit. “I wish I didn’t have to wear this everyday.” Shinichi mumbled, more to himself than his animal companion.
“Well,” Conan said, “It’s the only thing you have, so you’re going to have to wear it, unless you wanna spend all of our money on a new set of clothes.”
“I know,” Shinichi sighed, “I just get tired of wearing the same thing everyday.”
Shinichi managed to get through the rest of the shopping trip without being too self conscious, making it to the closest grocery and managing to fill to large bags with goods, spending nearly all of his pocket change. “Looks like we’re going to be eating a lot of pancakes, Conan.” Shinichi joked, making the cat grumble.
“I told you to get more than just pancake ingredients.” Shinichi laughed.
“It just so happened that what I bought implies pancakes, they can be used to make other things,” Shinichi retorted.
“Oh, really?” Conan said in a mocking tone, “I thought it was because the only thing you have managed not to royalty mess up was pancakes.” Shinichi let out a strangled sound and had to stop walking in order to contain his embarrassment.
“So not true!” Shinichi’s face was flushed. “I can cook just fine, thank you!”
“Uh huh, sure you can,” Conan mocked, his tail flicking in triumph.
“Wait, pull over for a second!” Shinichi heard a voice say, coming from the direction of the road. Looking over, he saw an open topped car full of teenagers pull up to the curb. Confusion took over him until he saw a face he recognized. The voice had belonged to the boy that had practically harassed him when he came to town. Shinichi felt his face scrunch up in revulsion.
“Hey Mr. Witch!” the boy said giddily with a wave. “How come you aren’t on your broom today?” Shinichi only gave him a withering look, which the boy seemed to not notice or chose to ignore. “I told you guys,” the boy addressed his friends, “he wears all black like a fairytale witch!” His friends started to laugh, and Shinichi had heard enough. He started walking at a hurried pace. “Wait! I was just joking around! Come back!” He heard the boy call after him, but Shinichi was already rounding a corner.
Shinichi was still burning with anger when he made it back to the bakery, and wanted nothing more than to put his groceries away and flop down on his bed and scream, but Ran caught him before he could head upstairs. “Shinichi!” She always said his name with a smile, it helped quell the witch’s burning rage. “Perfect timing! A lady came in asking you to deliver something for her.” Shinichi stared at her in silence for a second so Ran, with an eye roll, elaborated. “She’s your first customer!” Shinichi’s residual anger was replaced by excitement.
“Customer!” Shinichi smiled, “I’ll be right back!” He quickly rushed upstairs to put down his purchases and quickly returned back down, rushing into the store front with a map and broomstick in hand. A woman was standing at the counter, appearing to be in her late twenties, maybe early thirties and quite pretty.
“This is Shinichi,” Ran introduced him, “He’s the witch.”
“A male witch?” The woman looked over him, Shinichi felt embarrassed under her curious stare. “You certainly are a handsome young man, this is a wonderful surprise, I was certain witches were female.”
“Most are, ma’am, I just happen to be a rare exception.” Shinichi gave the woman his best customer service smile, a look he had perfected helping his mother with her potion business.
“Well, Ran-chan certainly had high praise for you, do you think you could deliver this by tonight?” The woman gestured to where a wicker bird cage was set on the counter and was covered by a small yellow blanket with a pink bow tied on top. “It’s for my niece’s birthday.”
“Of course!” Shinichi said cheerfully.
“Great.” The woman had a relieved look come across her face. “I had some urgent business come up so I can’t deliver it myself.”
“It should be no trouble at all. If I could have you point out the address on the map for me, that would be great!” Shinichi opened the map and brought it over to the woman, pouring over it to find the address; meanwhile, Conan wandered over to the cage resting on the counter, tail flicking in curiosity.
The cage was fairly large, about the same size as most decorative bird cages, and the blanket left just enough room for the cat to look inside. There wasn’t a perch inside, instead there was a small, plush black cat with a card tied onto it. Conan stared at it for awhile, surprised at how similar he looked to the toy.
“Hey, Conan? Let’s go!” The cat was pulled from his musings by a happy looking witch and followed the boy as he took the cage out front.
“How much are we being paid to do this?” Conan asked, picking up his pace to walk next to the human.
“Well, I hadn’t set a price yet, but that lady paid generously, so I won’t complain.” Shinichi set down the cage on the ledge outside the bakery, where he had first met Ran, and stretched, feeling his magic bubble to the surface in anticipation. “Come on, Conan,” he said with a grin, “Let’s make our first job a good one!”
Ran watched as her new friend left on his first job, holding her hands above her eyes to shield them from the glaring sun as she followed his figure on the broom. “Wow!” came a voice from behind her, “that’s so incredible.” The male voice had such a clear tone of admiration, a sentiment she agreed with completely.
“I know, I wish I could fly.” Ran replied.
“Yeah...Do you know him?” The voice asked. Ran turned to look at the boy. He looked startling like Shinichi, if Shinichi had messy hair and a far more mischievous look on his face. She was excited to boast about her new friend.
Shinichi circled upward from the shop, gaining altitude and expanding his field of view. The whistling wind whipped his cloak around, the cold air nipping at his fingers and nose. “How high are you planning to go?” Conan complained from where he was nestled between Shinichi’s arms, trying to stay warm. Shinichi slowed to a stop, the entire town beneath his feet. Carefully, he pulled out the map from the inside pocket of his cloak.
“It’s our first job, Conan. I don’t want to be stopped by a cop like last time. This needs to go as smoothly as possible.” Conan grumbled as he watched a plane pass beneath them.
“At the pace you were going, I thought you were trying to deliver it to the moon.” Shinichi ignored him and focused on the map, it certainly was an advantage to fly, he could clearly make out the coast line that was used on the map, making it easier to find where he should go.
“Well, you’ll be glad to know that we’re going down.” Conan gave a confused noise in response, making a grin spread across the young witch’s face. “Here we go!” Shinichi let the boom fall, descending at a rapid pace, the wind whipping at his face with even more force. Conan gave a startled meow that was nearly lost in the fall. Just as quickly, Shinichi had the broom stabilize at just above roof level and take off towards the address.
“You are the worst!” Conan hissed at him, Shinichi could feel his tail thumping in anger against him. The witch just laughed. They soared out of densest part of town and into the outskirts, where houses were fewer and they was large, sprawling yards bleeding into fields. As they reached the countryside proper, Shinichi found a flock of geese had begun to fly behind them.
“Conan! Look at the geese!”
“What are you, a child?” Conan teased.
“I can be excited about geese if I want to be.” Shinichi retorted. Shinichi watched as they passed over them to fly in front. He made sure to stay out of the flocks way and even slowed down to ensure that the birds had a comfortable lead.
Suddenly, all of the birds started honking, startling Shinichi slightly. “There’s a wind coming,” Conan said, suddenly serious. “They’re going higher to try to avoid it.” The geese quickly gained altitude, but before Shinichi could act, the gust reached him with far more force than he had expected, the broom was thrown around in its wake, nearly throwing Shinichi from it, Conan sinking his claws into Shinichi’s clothes to keep hold. In the jostle, the cage, which had been hanging from the broom, had been thrown off, and Shinichi, as soon as he regained control of the broom, moved the broom into a steep dive to try to catch it.
Fortunately, Shinichi managed to catch it. Unfortunately, the dive was too steep, and Shinichi didn’t have enough time to let the momentum slow before hitting the trees below. The pine needles scratched at his face and tore at his clothes. He came to a stop on a tree branch, thankful the broom hadn’t fallen all the way to the ground.
He only had a second of relief, however, before a bird, a crow to be more precise, started squawking and pecking at him. Observing the scene, he realized he had crashed next to a nest, so moving as fast as possible, Shinichi maneuvered himself out of the tree, trying not to be attacked by the bird. He managed to get above the canopy, but the bird wasn't satisfied, chasing him for a solid couple of minutes before heading back to its nest. “I never want to do that again.” Shinichi muttered, wincing as the fresh scratches on his face burned in pain.
“Finally, something we can agree on,” Conan said, trying to lighten the mood. Shinichi awarded him with a small chuckle. “Wait,” Conan said, causing Shinichi to bring the broom to a hover, “Shinichi, the toy’s gone!” Panic overtook him, this was their first job, he couldn’t let it be a failure!
“We have to go back,” Shinichi’s voice was too calm, giving away his panic. He quickly reversed the broom’s direction, moving back toward the tree he had crashed in to. Before he could reach it, however, a multitude of crows rose from the forest, all cawing meanicingly, causing Shinichi to freeze.
“They are calling you an egg thief,” Conan said, “I think they think that you were trying to steal the eggs from that nest.”
“That’s insane!” Shinichi said, with what was probably a bit too much force, “Why would I want to steal eggs?”
“Crows are unreasonable Shinichi, I never understood why witches used them as familiars.”
“What are we going to do?” Shinchi felt his heartsink, there had to be some way to make this job successful.
“We could go in after dark,” Conan said, “They would either be asleep or couldn’t see you.”
“We could,” Shinichi thought over it for a moment, “but we would be too late with the delivery. I have an idea, but I don’t think you’ll like it.”
“They are going to find out I’m not just some toy!” Conan yelled from inside the cage, giving Shinichi his best “I’m just a pitiful kitten don’t make me do this” look. Shinichi was ignoring him, too focused on making it to the delivery location as quickly as possible.
“It’s just for a little while, until I find that toy. I’ll come back as soon as I have it, I promise.” Shinichi felt himself relax minutely as he saw the house come into view. “We’re here,” he told Conan, voice heavy with worry, “Don’t move a muscle.”
“Can i breathe?” Conan asked sarcastically.
“Hold it as long as you can.” Shinichi replied, completely seriously. Conan repressed a shudder as nervousness took hold.
As Shinichi touched down in front of the door, he was surprised to find the door was open. Carefully, he approached the house and rung the doorbell. He attempted to regain his composure until a young girl of about six ran into the hallway and out the door to grab onto the cage. Shinichi nearly had a heart attack and he made a mental note to get Conan whatever he wanted the next time they went shopping.
“It’s Auntie’s present!” The girl exclaimed, her voice full of excitement. The girl quickly pulled the blanket off the cage to examine the contents, and her eyes practically lit up when she saw Conan sitting inside. “It’s so cute!” Before Shinichi could say anything, the girl ran back inside as a woman Shinichi assumed to be her mother came to the door.
“You’re a little late,” she said, “After my sister called, we were wondering where you were.” She said it with no malice, but the comment flush a little.
“I’m sorry ma’am. If you could sign this to confirm your delivery, I’ll get out of your way.” Shinichi pulled out a small notebook and pen and flipped to the receipt he had made. The woman took the pen and quickly signed the page.
“Mom!” the girl called from inside, “Can I put the canaries in here!”
“Sure Ayumi,” the woman replied as she turned to face her daughter, horrifying Shinichi as he saw just how tightly the girl was squeezing Conan, whom she had taken out of the cage. He was never going to hear the end of this. “Just make sure they don’t escape.”
“Okay!” the girl cheerfully replied before running off again.
“Thank you very much!” Shinichi said, pocketing the notebook and pen. “Have a nice day!” His unsettled state of mind allowed his magic to bubble up quickly, flowing into the broom which responded immediately. Running down the driveway, Shinichi leapt onto the broom which took off at a high speed, it wasn’t looking like a comfortable flight.
Conan was never going to let Shinichi hear the end of this. He had nearly been squeezed to death and the girl had just thrown him onto the floor in favor of harassing the poor canary into moving into the wicker cage. He relaxed for a second, thankful the attention wasn’t on him, until he realized there was a dog in the room. “Please hurry, Shinichi.” Conan pleaded.
Shinichi had never flown so fast in his entire life. He made it to the forest in only a few minutes, flying as low as possible in an attempt to not be spotted by the crows. When he made it to about where he crashed, he hopped off of the broom and began scanning the ground. He checked around all of the tree trunks and looked up through the branches to see if it got caught on the way down. He was starting to get frustrated. He knew it was around there somewhere, he knew it was one of those trees.
Suddenly, he came to a stop. There was a log cabin nestled into a small clearing just ahead. Gazing at it for a moment, he inhaled sharply and rushed toward its window. Reaching it, he saw he was correct, there was a black cat plush sitting on the inside sill. He saw no one inside, so he rushed around to the front of the house and called into the open doorway, hoping someone was there. “Hello! Is anyone home!”
The house was a mess, food was sitting out on a counter, clothes were draped over every surface, and the majority of the floor was taken up by palettes and brushes and paints. A large easel with a large blank canvas was sitting in the center of the room while Shinichi spotted some smaller, seemingly finished paintings in the back. Shinichi saw the window which held the cat plush by the bed. “Is anyone here!” he called again.
“Yes, I am, I just can’t come down right now.” A calm, feminine voice responded. Shinichi followed the voice away from the door and towards a ladder resting on the side of the house. “Why don’t you come up?” the voice said again. Carefully, Shinichi climbed up the ladder. As his head rose over the roof, he was startled by a crow, who cawed at him. The bird didn’t seem to interested in him, however, as it quickly hopped away, leading Shinichi’s attention to the young woman sitting on the roof. She was very pretty, with long dark hair that looked almost red in the setting sun. She had an intense look in her reddish brown eyes as she stared intently down at a sketchbook she had resting on her lap. Her hand made quick motion over the paper before she glanced up to the crows sitting in front of her.
“What do you want.” She said, he voice flat and uninterested, she never even looked at him. Shinichi was so shocked by this woman, that it took him a moment to remember to speak.
“The black cat, in your window, the toy, it’s mine, I dropped it. I would really appreciate it if you gave it back.” The woman was silent for a moment.
“Be good and don’t move for me yet.” Shinichi was confused at first before he realized she was speaking to the crows. “I found it in the forest,” she finally said.
“Please give it back to me,” Shinichi begged, “I really need it.”
“Hang on,” the woman said, sounding a bit agitated, “I can’t stop now.” The woman flipped a page in her sketchbook and moved closer to the birds. “You certainly are beautiful, aren’t you,” she said to them. Shinichi was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.
After several minutes, Shinichi stood at the door of the cabin while the woman was setting her things down. “Really,” she said, “you should have told me you were in such a hurry.”
“You seemed very absorbed into your sketch,” Shinichi replied. The woman laughed in response and carried over the cat to him.
“It really is quite cute, I might have to find one of my own.” Shinichi took the cat from her, relief flooding into his system. It only made it more heartbreaking when he noticed the tear separating the cat’s head from its body. The woman tsked when she noticed. “I bet the crows did it. They made such a fuss over the thing.”
“What am I going to do,” Shinichi felt frustration resurface, tying a knot in his stomach, “I can’t deliver this.” The woman looked at him in concern for a moment, her intense thought creasing her forehead.
“How about a deal?” she said, a smile on her lips.
“I can definitely relate to leaving home at sixteen, I’ve independent out here for a year now.” The woman said from where she was sitting outside. Shinichi had made a deal, he tidied up around her house in exchange for fixing the cat’s neck. She had been curious about him, so he told her about what had led him to that exact moment. “But a male witch. That is something you don’t hear everyday.”
“How’s it coming?” Shinichi asked, he was glad he was able to work out his frustration on her floor, it needed the extra elbow grease, but he was getting worried about Conan.
“Just a moment longer.” She replied, her voice still calm and lilting. Shinichi hoped that was the case, Conan had been there for hours now.
Conan had been there for hours. When exactly was Shinichi planning on coming to get him? The witch wouldn’t just leave him there if he couldn’t find the toy, would he? Ayumi, the girl, was currently sitting in front of the television with Conan held tightly to her chest. “Ayumi!, It’s time for your bath!” her mother called. Conan would have let out a sigh of relief if he was able to move. “Ayumi! Quickly, the guest’s will be arriving soon!” The girl slowly put Conan down, still absorbed in the T.V. show. “Ayumi!” her mother called for a third time, with a tone of anger that sent the girl scurrying to turn the television off and run to the bathroom.
Conan still couldn’t relax. The girl might have been gone, but the dog was still in the room. Conan didn’t trust dogs. All of the dogs back home had chased him around. The dog turned from where he was sleeping on the floor to look at Conan. The cat felt a chill go down his spine. He tried to remain as still as possible despite his instincts telling him to run. The dog got up and walked over to Conan, sniffing him. Despite his best efforts, Conan flinched, thinking that this was the end.
Then the dog licked him. Conan flinched even harder, his whole body reacting to the sudden action. The dog then circled around him and lied down, tucking Conan close to him with his tail. Conan was very confused.
Shinichi was putting Akako’s, the woman had finally told him her name, cleaning supplies away when he heard an “all done” from the porch. Joyfully, he ran outside to look at the toy. “Thank you so much!” Shinichi said, taking the toy from her hands. The seam was as close to perfect as possible, it was unlikely that a girl of six would notice.
“You’d better go save Conan before it’s too late,” Akako teased, “Who knows what might happen to him in the hands of a grade-schooler.
“But I haven’t completely finished yet,” Shinichi said, he wanted to be sure to fulfill his end of the bargain.
“Trust me Shinichi, you’ve done more than enough,” she said with a laugh. “Go save that poor kitten.”
“Thank you so much.” Shinichi said. He quickly grabbed his broom and took off, giving Akako a final wave as he rose above the trees.
Conan was doing alright, Ayumi’s birthday guests had arrived, and they had all gathered in the dining room for her birthday dinner. “The dog likes the present more than me!” Ayumi told her party guests, it made her happy that they laughed in return.
“It’s true,” her mother added, “he won’t leave the thing alone.” The dog in question was napping in the room, ignorant to the jokes about him. His head perked up from where it was resting on the floor and looked toward the door. With a sniff, he got up and picked up Conan, who had been tucked against the dog’s side. It wasn’t very pleasant to be carried around in a dog’s mouth, but the dog was gentle, so Conan could overlook how gross it was. The old dog lumbered to the door and scratched gently at it. Soon, Ayumi, on orders from her mother, arrived to let him out.
“Be sure to close it when you come back in!” Ayumi told the dog as she opened the door. She quickly went back to her dinner as the dog slowly walked outside. Gently, he laid Conan onto the ground and Conan quickly stood and ran over to the other side of one of the cars. Shinichi, who had been hiding there, mulling over different plans to sneak Conan out was surprised to find him running toward him at breakneck speed.
“Conan!” Shinichi exclaimed, meeting the cat with a hug, so relieved he could almost cry.
“Shinichi! What took you so long? I was so worried!” Conan complained, though it was clear he was also relieved.
“I’m so sorry, Conan.”
“That dog helped me escape. Isn’t he fantastic Shinichi?” Conan gushed, pointing back at the dog who was watching this exchange patiently. When the dog saw the human acknowledge him, his tail gave a slow wag. “He’s happy to help us however he can,” Conan told Shinichi. The witch stood, guiding Conan to perch on his shoulder as he walked over to the dog.
“Do you think you could take this back inside?” Shinichi asked, presenting the canine with the toy. The dog gently took it from Shinichi’s grasp and sauntered back inside the house, closing the door like Ayumi asked him to. “Well,” Shinichi said, “let’s go home.”
The flight back to the bakery was calm, the distant lights of the city a beacon in the dark country. The air had grown chill and Shinichi was anxious to get inside the warm house. Conan sat between Shinichi’s arms, moving around his neck in different ways. “What’s wrong?” Shinichi asked.
“My neck hurts,” the cat said, “Plus, I’m hungry.”
“Me too.” Shinichi felt his stomach rumble in agreement.
“And I’m tired,” Conan added, making Shinichi let out a small laugh.
“It sure was an adventure though, huh?” Conan grumbled in return. “And the painter who found the stuffed cat wants to do a painting with me in it, isn’t that neat?” Shinichi asked.
“Naked?” Conan teased.
“Don’t be absurd!” Shinichi shouted, more embarrassed than he would like to admit.
The bakery still had its store light on when Shinichi touched down in front of it. Shinichi had to do a double take as he looked through the display window. Made entirely out of bread, a sign was hanging in the window. A wreath of bread surrounded a boy and a cat on a broomstick topped off with an impressive bow and some decorative bread flowers. Hanging off the bottom of it proudly stated “Shinichi’s Delivery Service”.