A New Beginning?
With a long defeated sigh Kaito took up the file detailing his new identity which had been slid across the table at him. His short life as Kaito Kuroba was officially over. It was ridiculous really; he was too young to spend the remainder of his life living under a false name, but he had to. All because of The Organisation.
They had killed his father when he was 5 years old and 2 years ago, at the age of 17 he had found out the truth about his death and the Kaito Kid. He had sworn that he would make them pay in blood and started investigating using the few details that he had. Unfortunately his plan had not succeeded or gone the way he had predicted and they had tracked him down and tried to kill him. Now at the age of 19 he was forced to seek help from the government to hide from them and come up with a new plan. He had given up everything that he knew in return for them helping him.
It felt strange to relocate under a false identity. He should be attending university now living the student life: studying, socialising and drinking too much alcohol not sitting in a cramped office in an anonymous government building with a similarly anonymous man sitting opposite him.
After a deep intake of breath he opened up the file. Inside was his new name and details as well as new personal documents like his birth certificate and driver's license. He didn't mind his new name Shinichi Kudo. It meant that he was now one truth instead of being a phantom thief. As he shifted through the documents he came across a marriage certificate. It hit him like a blow from a metal baseball bat.
"I'm married." It wasn't a question, just a bare statement.
The government agent took it as a question. Pushing his plain black framed glasses up his nose he replied, "Yes. As it happens there is someone in the same situation as you so we thought we would kill 2 birds with one stone and relocate you two as a couple."
Kaito raised one eyebrow sceptically, but kept quiet. This was his chance to get away from The Organisation and bring them down with help from the government and their resources which was a lot more than what he had had before. If it meant that he had an annoying woman as his unwanted wife, so be it. He would just have to put up with her. Hopefully she wouldn't be too bad if she had been through what he had.
"So, when do I get to meet uh, Ran Mori?" he enquired reading the name off the certificate.
He could have sworn that her name was similar to the author of Arsène Lupin rendered in Japanese.
"She will be momentarily. She is being briefed in another room like you."
There was a light tap at the door.
"That should be her now," the agent said, before getting up and unlocking the door.
He led a young woman who was the same age as Kaito into the small office, dismissing the agent with her. Kaito looked her up and down noting every detail of his new partner. She had soft messy brown hair like his. Her eyes were bloodshot with red and there were darkly defined black bags under her eyes. Her skin was deathly pale and snow white.
I must look like that to her, Kaito thought to himself. He decided that she would be more attractive once she got some proper sleep. She was pretty, but in a subtle way.
"Kuroba-san, this Aoko Nakamori-san," the agent introduced, bringing back Kaito's mind to the current proceedings. "Nakamori-san, this is Kaito Kuroba-san."
Kaito smiled at Aoko who to him looked fragile and about to crack. He held out his hand and conjured up a rose. Something which he hadn't done for years.
"I'm Kaito Kuroba. It's nice to meet you."
Aoko looked at him doubtfully before taking the rose. She sniffed it delicately and the corners of her mouth twitched as if she were about to smile. Her eyes lit up with a sparkle momentarily, then it was gone again.
"It's nice to meet you too," she replied quietly in a voice completely devoid of any emotion.
The agent coughed and Aoko took a seat next to Kaito who found himself speculating what had happened to her. Had she been kidnapped once by Them? Why were her eyes so dead? He hoped that he didn't seem like that to her. He hadn't slept particularly well the night before, but what was new about that?
"From the information that we have gained from the two of you we have been able to formulate a strategy against this organisation," the agent began. "So we think that it is best for you two to leave Japan for now, under the Witness Protection programme for your own safety and to stop Kuroba-san from interfering."
"Where are we going to?" Kaito ignored the jibe. He hoped it wasn't one of those foreign countries with a barren landscape and with a permanently hot climate.
"A small village in England. You will be flying there privately with an influential member of our agency."
England. That didn't sound too bad. He had always had a desire to go there. Now that desire could be fulfilled. He stole a glance at Aoko. She had shown no emotion so far and was just staring at the agent. Why was she so deadpan? It annoyed Kaito.
"Our agent Saguru Hakuba will the means of contact between us and you once you are there. You will be flying by his personal plane," the agent explained. "Please do not attract any unwanted attention; I read your school records Kuroba-san. Do not do anything silly and get yourself killed. The Organisation had people everywhere so please be careful.
Kaito noticed that Aoko didn't get a warning and that the agent was mainly directing his words at him as opposed to bother of the. He wondered what she thought about them posing as a married couple and having to live together. It couldn't be a pleasant idea for a quiet person like her.
The next hour passed like that. Kaito was told not to do things and Aoko just sat there listening, completely ignoring him. After the they had signed various documents and had left the building for the airport where the plane and Saguru Hakuba were waiting to take off. It would have been a long and awkward car ride if Kaito had interfered with Aoko's peace.
Aoko was sat in the back seat with her gaze fixed on something in the distance out the window and Kaito sat next to her thinking of ways to start a conversation.
"How good is your English?" He asked impulsively. It had been bothering him ever since he had been told of their destination. Why England? He could speak English well, but for it work Aoko needed to be good at it too.
"Good enough," she replied in the appropriate language without tearing her gaze away from the window.
"What's your favourite colour?"
This time she turned right round and looked him straight in the eye, something with she hadn't done yet. Kaito blanched at her stare which was quite unnerving.
"It's just… we will have to know things about each other if we are going to pose as husband and wife," he defended his question.
"I don't have one," she replied, turning away again.
For the second time that day Kaito used what had been his favourite magic trick. Along with a pink puff of smoke he conjured up roses in every basic colour. He found using his old magic tricks very natural and easy. It reminded him of his ambition to grow up and become a professional magician like his father. Those days had gone a long time ago.
"Of course you do, everyone does," he chided her gently. "Here, pick one."
With a sceptical glance at the roses Aoko hesitated at the white rose and plucked out the red once from his hand and regarded it silently as if it reminded her of something.
"What's your favourite colour?" She asked as she turned to look at him.
"Me? White; something that is pure and unblemished, yet becomes dirty so quickly.
The car turned onto the road that led to the private runway and Kaito disposed of the remaining roses with another puff of smoke. Aoko held onto hers tightly even when they got out of the car and onto the runway to board the plane.
Kaito was please with the progress that he had made so far. He had gotten her to volunteer a question and she had improved her attitude towards him slightly. There was still hope. He told himself that he would be able to get her to smile and show emotion.
After all he was going to be spending an unfixed amount of time with her. It could be a few years or a decade and he did not want to spend it with a person with the emotions and facial characteristics of a blank wall.
I've had this idea in my head for a while which I have been playing around with and I wanted to write it out to see how it came out. I'm quite happy with it so far.