Infiltration by Strawberry'd
Magic Kaitou: Kaito/Aoko
August 28, 2006 – March 10, 2007

Word count: 1, 123
Disclaimer: Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou isn't mine. If it was, I'd end it already. DX And Shinichi would be big and his right age again, damnit.

She was clumsy, bumbling, and awkward. A few years later, he looked at her and she was cute, bumbling and awkward. As the years piled on, she grew taller and matured; her hair was long and tamed, her eyes bright, and her gaze strong. Staring through the eyes of Kid, Kaito finally understood. This was Aoko, his long-time childhood friend.

She was beautiful.

It had been a complete and total surprise when Kid gently landed on the roof of the old elementary school building to find someone waiting there for him. At first he didn't recognize her, because he knew it was a her, shadowed by the heavy cloak of darkness.

He took a few hesitant steps toward her, not knowing whether to unmask the figure or run. In the end that decision was made for him.

She slowly walked to him, her white dress swaying around her legs in the breeze. His poker face was on as always, but he felt it slip as the female's profile came into the light.

It was her. But it couldn't be. Why would she be here, of all places?

For a split second, the mask that always covered his face fell, and his surprise shone through. "A–,"

She continued to walk towards him. It had been a long time, hadn't it? The years had definitely been kind to her. There was determination in her eyes, and, Kid noticed, a hint of sorrow.

But why…?

Still speechless, Kid tried to recover, but it was too late. She touched his cheek, infiltrating his senses and sending his entire system on shut down. He frantically tried to reboot when her hands, trembling, lifted his top hat and removed his monocle.

It was over.

He stood, as frozen as a statue, as he saw the hat fall to the ground, heard the tinkle of glass meeting pavement.

"It's true." She whispered, her eyes never leaving his face. "I can't… believe… but it's true."

After a few attempts at speaking, Kaito gave up. He reached for the girl – now a young woman – in front of him, but she pulled away from him. His arms fell to his sides woodenly. "Aoko… this… this was never supposed to happen." Her eyes were so bright; he could hardly tear his own away from them.

Maybe if she decided to hear his explanation, however poor and vague it may be, she would let down her guard and he could escape. If anything, he wanted to prevent her from any more pain.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her voice was small, her eyes reproachful. "Were you never going to tell me? A secret this big… and you've kept it for so long…" A bitter laugh reached Kaito's ears. "Maybe I was better off not knowing…"

"That's not what I meant, Aoko." He desperately wanted her to see things his way, but at the rate things were going…

The sounds of helicopters reached his ears and Kaito immediately looked to the sky. Three, no, four helicopters circled above them, their presense sending an ominous shiver down his spine. And then it clicked.

"You…" His Poker Face slipped and the shock could be clearly seen on his face. "They used you… to get to me."

She was really crying now. Fat tears slipped down her nose and splashed onto her chin as she trembled. "They told me you… you were him, but I couldn't believe it, and it's true," she hiccupped softly, unable to control her tears. "You're… you're Kid."

"Who told you?" His thoughts were whirling around, each possible solution flying until dismissed. "Who knew?"

She was quieting now, her sobs now sniffles. Kaito, with one eye on the slowly descending helicopters, steered Aoko away from the open area and closer to the edge of the roof. He had a plan to fall back on, if nothing else.

"There was a man… in black." Involuntarily, it seemed, Aoko was comforted by the presense of Kaito and leaned against him, her face pressed into his shoulder. "He- he told Daddy about you… and then, he told him the plan to-to use me…" Her words became more and more incoherent, and Kaito was scared she would dissolve into tears again. He didn't fare well against a woman in tears.

"Shhh," he whispered, rubbing her back soothingly. "Just tell the story."

She opened her mouth to speak but no sound would come out. Her slender shoulders shook as she tried to gain control of herself. Kaito could only watch, helplessly. "Who else did this person tell? Just you? And your father?"

Aoko nodded wordlessly.

"What… what did your father say?"

She inhaled and blinked a few times. "He… he didn't believe it at first. I don't think he wanted to believe it. Like me." She gazed up at him and her eyes were no longer clouded over with grief.

"Aoko…"

"Are you going to run away again?"

He didn't know what to say. The situation, in any other circumstances, was laughable. Here he was, a powerful phantom thief, rooted to the ground by only a mere woman's stare. But Aoko wasn't just any woman. She was… she was…

She was his woman.

The dull roar of the helicopters broke any magical hold Aoko had on Kaito. Swiftly, he walked and picked up his hat and monocle, replacing it on his face. He gave her a quick grin, and when she smiled back, albeit hesitantly, his spirits lifted.

"I'm not going anywhere…" he said, settling his white top hat onto her still unruly hair, "… without you."

She didn't have time to open her mouth to scream as he picked her up bridal-style – one arm under her knees and another around her back – and jumped off the side of the building. With a huge gust of wind, a paid of white wings unfolded from Kaito's back somewhere under the cape he always wore.

"Kaito! What are you doing?" She shrieked, clinging to him in a way he didn't dislike.

"I'm escaping." He grinned at her, maneuvering around a skyscraper with ease.

"Wha-what around the jewel?" Aoko said, her eyes wide with shock. Although she never really had a true fear of heights, flying through the air totally unharnessed to anything was a little unnerving.

"I've got it right here in my arms."

"Sir?" Inspector Nakamori Ginzo turned around to find a lackey staring at him. "What are we to do for the time being, sir? Do we give chase, sir?"

"No," the inspector peered curiously out the window of the helicopter, "let them be." A soft quirk of a smile was on his face as he watched his arch-old nemesis and only daughter fly away in the distance.

AN: Well, I started this little fic in August of last year, and only finished it now. XD; What a failure I ammmm. I wrote a ShinRan angst story a while back, and when I finished this, it occurred to me that they were similar. So now they're together in a mini-fic.. series, consisting of three one-shots (kinda like Joys of the Season, which I should totally finish, damnit). Three fics, three pairings. This one is semi-fluffy (even though the beginning was weird) and the ShinRan is way angsty. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the HeijiKazuha…

Anyways, a few words on this fic: It was my first Kaito/Aoko fic ever. I had written it while reading some really nice angsty fics (Bluebells comes to mind). I'm sorry for the weirdness and it ehh-ness and stuff. XD; My attempts at angst are just that: attempts. Uh, let's try and explain the fic. Obviously they haven't seen each other in a while, and I guess (?) Kaito needs to make a heist or.. something.. and she's there. Uhhh. Maybe it's better not explaining it. XD; So yes. 8D That's the end of my ramble. I hope you enjoyed the fic (because how could you not -shot-) and please drop a review! 8D