I don't own DC or MK. What else is new?

She was walking in darkness. The park was shrouded in midnight shadows as she strolled along the cement sidewalk, approaching two unoccupied benches. They sat with barely any space between them, and about two feet away from a large patch of grass. A few pine trees sprouted out of the ground near a lamp that had long since gone dark. She could barely see her feet as they moved along the ground, her soft footsteps blending with the rustle of leaves and gentle breeze.

And then, everything was bright.

She stopped, shocked as she stepped into a patch of moonlight. Gasping in awe, she turned to look at the moon; a full circle in the sky, hanging there in darkness. There were no stars to accompany the beautiful moon. As she looked at it, she recalled how some people described it as silver. She really couldn't see it.

Instead, The moon was a milky white circle in the sky, a gray rabbit imprinted on its surface. As she stared up at it, an incredible calm swept through her. She walked slowly towards the benches, her eyes never leaving the white orb for even a second. Slowly, still watching, Aoko lowered herself into the seat.

"Lovely, isn't it?"

She let out a shrill scream, breaking the peace of the night as a voice rang out. Heart hammering in her chest, she spun around to face the second bench. There, leaning against the back of it with as he watched the moon, was none other than the Kaitou Kid. He stood there peacefully and with an annoyingly nonchalant attitude.

"Kid!" She gasped, anger overriding her initial panic. "What are you doing here?" The thief glanced at her and then back at the moon, and she fumed at how he easily dismissed her presence. Egoistical bastard.

"Some chaos interrupted my heist and I wanted a little break. Stealing may be a crime, but enjoying nature isn't, right?" He finally replied. His voice was icy. Once again, his eyes locked onto her, this time with a challenge in his cerulean orbs.

Challenge accepted.

"It is when you're a wanted criminal," she shot back.

He let out a short and exasperated sigh before returning to gazing at the sky. "So what are you going to do, Ojou-san? Call your father and put me in cuffs?" His lip curled with distaste. "So stubborn…" This time, Kid's words came out as barely a whisper. Aoko strained to hear it, but felt her temper flare when she did.

Wishing she had brought a pair of handcuffs with her, or at least her trusty mop, Aoko only said, "That's exactly what I plan to do. I can hold you down until he gets here." She took a threatening step forward, but he continued to ignore her.

The white clad thief let out another long sigh. "You hate me, don't you Ojou-san?"

"Of course!" She snapped. "You're always humiliating my father!"

"Is that a reason to hate someone?" The question caught her off guard. As she looked at Kid, she saw he was now staring at his gloved hands. "To say you hate me also means you believe I deserve a terrible fate, perhaps even death. 'Dislike' I can understand. But surely hate is a word that someone as pure as yourself should never use…" He trailed off, randomly conjuring up a white rose. He twirled the flower in his fingers absentmindedly.

Aoko faltered slightly, then resumed glaring. "Did you come here to lecture me?" She snarled.

Kid snapped his eyes to her and she shivered at the sheer intensity in his bright orbs. Even behind the monocle, she could see the blaze in his eyes. Not even his poker face could hide such strong emotion. "On the contrary, you are the one lecturing me," he said dryly. "I came to admire the moon. As I said, someone interrupted my heist. Damn Snake." His last words came out as a hiss, clearly not meant for Aoko to hear.

But she heard them. "Snake?" She scoffed. "Was your heist at a zoo or something?"

Kid blanched, his poker face destroyed. A mere second later, it was back in place, but it was too late. She had seen the panic cross his face.

"Mm… See, there are those who would prefer I, ah, retire from my nightly job. I have nicknamed one of those lovely people as 'Snake.'"

"Well, I completely agree with the retiring idea... But I get the feeling they don't just want you to quit." Aoko didn't like the way this was going. Sure, she had heard gunshots at his heists before, but she had always assumed it was just a warning shot, or perhaps a trap that had just been triggered. Never had she imagined that someone was actually trying to kill the thief.

Kid smiled bitterly in the moonlight. "Believe me, their idea of retirement drastically differs from yours and mine." His false smile shifted into a scowl. "They are the people I truly hate. Killing innocents so they can gain the impossible… Do you know Kuroba Toichi?" His question was sudden, seemingly random.

It was Aoko's turn to be surprised. "You know Kaito's father?" She asked. She already knew that Kid was aware of Kaito, apparently he had even disguised as the messy haired teen before. But surely he didn't know Kaito's father, who had passed on years ago. Or maybe he had. Her father had, after all, been chasing KID since he was in his twenties.

He grinned in the moonlight. "Of course! I always looked up to him as a child. He was a great man, a great magician. One of the best, if not the best." The brunette was once again shocked. Was Kid actually saying Toichi was the better magician? Suddenly she realized the ages didn't match up. Toichi Kuroba was around her father's age. The Kaitou KID was supposed to be somewhere in his fourties or fifties. As she watched, his grin began to fade and shift into a miserable and furious grimace. He didn't look that old. If anything, he almost looked like... a teenager. "He was one of their victims. The police passed his death off as an accident. But it wasn't- it was a murder. And I heard the truth straight from the killer's lips." His voice turned into a snarl.

Aoko felt her breath hitch. Kaito's father… had been murdered? That didn't make sense. Her own father had looked into that case. Although Ginzo was focused completely on Kaitou Kid, he had been on decently close terms with Toichi due to her friendship with Kaito. And they hadn't found a single trace of sabotage.

She wanted to asked so many questions. How did it happen, and why was Toichi targeted? Why did the police say it was an accident? Were there criminals in the police? And who was the Kaitou KID? How was it possible that, when her father had been chasing him for twenty years, he appeared to only be in his teens? But all these questions went unasked. Instead she said, in a shaky whisper, "Does Kaito know?"

Kid hesitated. "Y- No. He doesn't. And I'd appreciate it if you kept it that way, at least until I put the murderers behind bars."

Aoko gasped. "You're trying to catch them?"

Kid nodded solemnly. "I was personally affected by their crimes. They've threatened my loved ones and hurt my family. I won't stop until they're in jail or Hell." He blinked, and then hastily added, "Not to say that I'd kill them! It's just very likely that they will receive a death sentence after everything they've done…" he sighed. "Sorry, I'm not making any sense. Honestly, why am I even telling you all this? I already promised I wouldn't let anyone know!" His gloved hands clenched into fists. "Idiot!" He muttered something like 'Tantei-kun's gonna kill me,' but she ignored it.

"I'm glad you told me," Aoko said suddenly. Kid looked up at her in confusion, and she smiled. "Let's just say I've changed my mind about you, Kid." The girl began to walk away, leaving a very confused phantom thief behind.

"Wait… you're not going to call Nakamori-keibu?" He clarified.

Aoko shrugged. "What good would it do? It'll take at least ten minutes to get here, and you'll be long gone by then." With that, she turned and walked away.

About halfway home, she was greeted by a very out of breath Kaito. "Kaito!" She gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Got… a text… from Kid…" he gasped, putting his hands on his knees. "Said… you were… out late… at night… Couldn't… let you… walk… alone." For what felt like the hundredth time that night, Aoko was shocked stiff. Then she smiled and waited for the magician to catch his breath.

Soon, the messy haired boy and his friend were walking side by side. "What were you doing out that late anyway, baka?" Kaito asked.

"I just had a lot on my mind," came the simple reply.

"Really? What about?"

"Mmm, just stuff about Tou-san and Kid. Let's just say I've changed my mind about that thief." Kaito stared at her in shock, and she braced herself for some triumphant mockery.

Instead, he only said, "Really? Well, what do think of him now?"

"Well I don't hate him," Aoko said uncomfortably.

"Do you dislike him?"

"I wouldn't say that…"

"Do you like him, then?" Kaito sounded anxious. She bit her lip and looked away. "Aoko…" Kaito warned.

Fearing a sudden change of hair color (though Kaito had yet to subject her to his hair dying antics) she blurted out, "Alright, I do! But I am not some idiot fangirl who's obsessed with that egoistical bastard." She huffed and glanced away. "He's justnot as bad as I thought."

Kaito grinned and punched the night air. "I knew it!" He burst out. "No one can hate Kid!"

Aoko flared up. "Oh yeah? Well he's still in desperate need of ego deflation!"

"Take your own advice, Ahoko!"

"Why don't you, Bakaito?"

As they bickered, Aoko clearly noticed the joyful grin on her friend's face.

This was inspired when I was walking down the stairs at midnight. No joke. I just walked into a patch of moonlight and got all shocked and awed. After just standing there and staring at the full moon for a good five minutes, I went upstairs and started typing. So, how is it? Good or bad? I know I didn't really explain why Kaito was in his Kid outfit, but that's how it turned out.

8-6-12

Revised! Nothing major, just changed and added a few things.