As Luck Would Have It
Kaito's 'fortune-telling' business was all meant for a disguise, but specifically for Aoko, he'll look inside his magic crystal ball for some answers she hoped to seek.
Kaito didn't really mind cross-dressing. He liked the extra effort he had to put in his disguise and it was a good practice for his skills. Besides, it was much easier for him to get away since everyone's eyes were looking for a man in white, not a lady in a dress or some sort.
But he wasn't getting away or anywhere, as of now. Kaito was just sitting behind a desk in the middle of the streets facing a cross junction, watching cars passing and people walking by him like a breeze. People would question what a high school student was doing there in the middle of the day, but as he was donned as a fortune-teller today, with his good ol' grey hair wig and a skin mask as wrinkled as a prune, everyone was just too nonchalant and busy to stop and look. The crystal ball that Kaito was playing around was a great prop to repel everyone who wanted to avoid these sort of superstitious stuff too.
The building just opposite Kaito was the answer to why he was there. Two nights later, he would probably be on the roof, holding onto the gem and letting it shine against the moon, inwardly hoping it would be Pandora. As of now, it was all the planning and preparations. How many exits were there from the outside? Could the traffic be a nuisance to his plan? Where are the openings? What could he do to attract the audience's attention while he slipped out of the building-
"What will he do to attract the audience's attention when he slips out of the building?"
Kaito's legs jerked up in surprise, the blueprint of the building he set on his lap almost fell on the floor. He looked up and over his crystal ball, his eyes following the outlines of the slender legs, mild waist-curve, the long brown hair and the messy bird nest top he recognized for as long as he remembered in his life.
He couldn't believe it.
Aoko stroke her chin before she pulled out a notepad from her schoolbag and began jotting down some notes. Her brows were creased and her tongue was sticking out a little, a habit he noticed whenever she was focused on something. Now, he was awfully curious at what she was writing. It might be some absurd thought she had in her mind, but her ideas were often the turning point when he was stuck in his track.
A short break from his work wouldn't do any harm.
"Hello young lady, are you interested in a reading?" Kaito announced. "I will not ask for your money. Just your time."
He could see her shoulder's tensed as she turned around, her eyes widened by a fraction. Had she not noticed his presence in the first place?
"Uh," There were signs of hesitation in her eyes. Too polite and kind to straight out reject an old lady's offer? Typical Nakamori Aoko. "Thank you but it's fine. My friend often mocked me about how superstitious I can get sometimes."
Kaito had a good feeling Aoko was referring about him, the friend who mocked her life out of nothing. But well...
"Believe in what you want to believe," Kaito shrugged the blueprints away from his lap and shoved it under the table, hidden away within the long covered purple cloth before he hovered his wrinkled fingers over the crystal ball. "Do not allow others to deter you away from what you are and what you want in life."
"It's alright-"
"My ears are always ready for you to speak about your problems, Nakamori Aoko." Kaito smiled. "You have a lot on your mind."
Aoko blinked and glanced down on her uniform, making sure she hadn't got any name badge on. "How did you-"
"Your view outside the class window spans over the school field, not like I'm suggesting that daydreaming in school is a good thing to do," Kaito nodded his head slowly at the crystal ball. "Especially during History class. You have a lot of catch up to do."
Her cheeks instantly turned beet red as she frantically shoved her notebook inside her bag and took a step closer to his table. "How did you know all of that?"
"Believe in what you want to believe." Kaito cackled creepily behind for the unnecessary effect. Shit. He suddenly felt like he was Akako for some reason.
Aoko tentatively sat on a small stool that was conveniently beside the table. "I still can't believe this is true but- What else do you know?"
He was mildly surprise. It was always easy to get words inside her head, but this time round, she actually needed more convincing for something he thought she was always intrigued and interested about. Maybe his constant mockery did cause some effect on her. All of the sudden, a rare guilty sensation began tingling at the back of his mind. He hastily shrugged them off.
"You live alone with your hardworking father. And just a few blocks down is where your childhood friend stays." Kaito was resisting he urge to add certain descriptive adjectives to describe the childhood friend. He didn't dare to take the risk.
She simply nodded her head and the silence urged him to continue.
"You, along with your father, yearned to capture this magician thief in white for many years."
That was partially the trigger. He could see the balance tipping and leaning towards the side of enchantment and belief from the way her lips parted and pupils dilated.
It was just too easy anyway. Kaito continued to list down the things he clearly knew about Aoko. About how she liked blue, how she fell off a swing when she was eight, how she almost burnt the kitchen down because she was distracted by a TV show while cooking and even as far as her bust size, much to her embarrassment.
"Alright, I believe you. I'm believing in what I want to believe now." Aoko nearly exclaimed when Kaito was about to move on to the next fun fact. "You're the real deal."
"It's been my pleasure to prove I'm genuine." Kaito dragged his voice low and deep. "Will you tell me what's on your mind now?"
Aoko blinked. "Well, you should know it if you look inside your crystal ball."
This girl. "I know the answers already, but it isn't the same as you telling me. I want to help you, but for me to do that, you must understand yourself first. By speaking out and getting the problems off your chest." Kaito had no idea how his mind suddenly got so philosophical. Maybe he was getting immersed in this role.
She pondered for a few seconds before she sighed in defeat. "Is there a way for you to find the answer to my question from your crystal ball?"
"Only when you tell me then I can help you, my dear."
"I have t-two questions," Aoko bit her lips. "The first one- As you know, my father had been trying to catch Kaitou Kid for all his life... I've always been wondering if he will ever bring Kaitou Kid to jail."
Darn. The question was so... He drummed his fingers against the table and Aoko looked at him worriedly.
"Is it a negative?" She whispered.
It was true that Aoko had a lot in her mind, from what Kaito noticed when they were in school and when he was hanging out at her place for dinner. Answering wrong questions, burning his hamburger steak, tripping over a flat surface even when walking normally. It annoyed Kaito, but his usual way of asking what was wrong was also equivalent to him yelling at her to "Get your shit together Ahouko." just because he was the jerk he believed he was in her life. And now that this was his chance to ask and know, he'd got the most difficult question of all.
The ultimate answer to the question was obviously a no. He was sure it would be a no and he would make sure it would be a no. It was the part where he had to explain it all was the one that was difficult for him, and saying the truth would only add on to Aoko's worries. She would be awfully disheartened and it would do an opposite effect of trying to cheer her up. He gazed inside the crystal ball and nodded at the sudden idea of his supposed perfect answer.
"Yes and no."
Aoko raised an eyebrow. "Yes and... no?"
"Kaitou Kid's act of thieving will stop one day. He will disappear from the surface of the Earth forever and no longer be stealing jewels anymore," Kaito explained with as little information as he could possibly, yet making sure it stuck close to the truth and promise he kept to himself. "When that time comes, your father can stop chasing after the thief, even though the details of when it will happen remains uncertain."
"So that criminal will get away from his crimes scot-free?" Aoko scowled and crossed her arms. "After what he put my father through and making people's life miserable with his conduct?"
Kaito gulped. Either Aoko was missing his point or he was missing her point of wanting Kaitou Kid behind bars more than wanting him to be gone. He stared inside the crystal ball, his disguise clearly staring back at him. He wondered if there would be a difference if Aoko knew the criminal she wanted to lock behind bars was the same person who experienced all the fun facts he had just shared with her. He glanced away and back at Aoko again.
"Sadly, that would be the answer," Kaito cleared his throat. It would do no good to linger around this depressing question any longer. "Pardon me if it was not fulfilling enough to satisfy you, however, I'm sure I can do greater help to the second question."
On the cue, her brief anger suddenly subsided and turned into darting gazes and fidgety legs. Alright, even Kaito was starting to get scared of the next question. He could expect one of the question to be of relation to Kaitou Kid, but the next one, he had completely no idea.
"Um," Aoko swallowed hard and spoke again. "Will I ever meet the one?"
Kaito tilted his head dumbly. "The... one?"
"The one for me," Aoko scratched the side of her cheek and sheepishly laughed as the rest of her sentence sounded the same as a croak. "The one I'm going to spend the rest of my life with. The one... I'll be hopelessly i-in love with for the rest of my life. And it will be the same as how he feels towards me."
Kuroba Kaito would've laughed at every chance he got from this, but in all honestly, there was no happy enzymes in him to even lift the side of his lips. This was simply another question that he knew the answer to (so damn well), yet he had absolutely no idea how to respond to it. He watched Aoko bite her lips nervously, her eyes lowered and avoiding his gaze. From what he guessed, she was far from embarrassed. It was more like fearing to know the truth.
"Is it a negative too?" Aoko squeaked. "Please don't tell me it's a yes and a no again."
"You'll meet many guys." Trying to stall time, Kaito picked up the cloth and wiped the crystal ball that was starting to fog up as he was constantly speaking into it. His reflection was now bright and clear, and for a moment, he thought the crystal ball was answering his thoughts more than the question Aoko was seeking for. He was lucky his stupid blush was hidden under his mask. "But sadly, no. The answer is no."
Aoko's head shot up. "No? As in I'll never meet the one for me?" Her words were dying to a soft whisper.
He nonchalantly placed the wiping cloth back on the table. "You'll never meet the one, because you've already met him. There will be many obstacles in both of your life, but after overcoming them together, the end result will be all worth it. Blissful will be an understatement, that, I can promise."
Her face lit up as bright as the sun hanging in the sky. "W-What's his name?" Aoko leaned forward in glee and attempted to peek at the crystal ball too. Silly girl.
"For that, you'll have to figure it out yourself," Kaito smiled but he quickly corrected himself, just in case. "But I can tell you, he is not blonde and his name is not Hakuba Saguru."
Aoko blinked before a smile crept across her face. "I'll take note on that," she stood up from her seat and gently placed the stool back to its original position before giving a bow. "Thank you so much for the answers and I hope you'll have a good day ahead."
"You too, my dear."
As she skipped away with the usual bubbly and happy strides Kaito finally recognized, he smiled in relief, though at the same time, he wondered if he should have given the name.
Ah, that didn't matter. He picked up the blueprints from underneadth the table and get back to work. If he was done on his side, that blissful day would happen just the same.
.end.