Underneath It All

Kuroba Kaito was not a pervert.

He knew every girl in his class would describe him first and foremost as a pervert, and he understood that it seemed that way. After all, he was never hesitant to peep into a locker room here or flip a skirt there, and he wasn't exactly sneaky about either act.

He was the only one who knew, however, that he hadn't actually looked at even one other girl since he'd had to mature quickly starting the first night he had donned the famous cape and top hat. He was the only one who knew that he only truly cared for Aoko. Unfortunately for him, at the same time he'd matured enough to realize he needed to show Aoko his true feelings if he wanted a chance of keeping her around, he'd also adopted his father's enemies, threatening his own safety as well as that of all of his loved ones. Now, he knew he was doomed to never outwardly acknowledge his love of Aoko as long as his nighttime persona existed, and who knew how long he'd be forced to keep up that act.

To make things even worse, Kaito's first love hated half of who he was. Even if he could keep Aoko safe, he couldn't think of any way of telling her about his night job without making sure she was never willing to speak to him again. But even knowing this, Kaito knew there was no way he could move on and just forget how strongly his love for Aoko stung inside of him. How could he ever feel this way for anyone else? How could he believe the pain of his heart snapping into more pieces every day would ever disappear?

With no other option, Kaito felt he had to keep up the way he acted before he discovered his father's secret past. After all, if those enemies of his father realized the current KID was someone younger, they'd immediately look into students whose behavior changed soon after the day of KID's return; it wasn't safe to change how he acted anymore. So day after day, Kaito continued the same old tricks—with a few new ones—but without the same fun and whimsy he'd once enjoyed. Nobody knew that Kaito didn't even pay attention anymore. To anyone else, Kaito seemed the same as ever.

Inside was different. Kaito could feel the difference that he knew no one else could see. Although he kept up his excitable personality on the outside, he felt like he was trudging through each slow day, becoming lonelier by the minute. He had to admit to himself, though, that everything felt like it used to each time he had a chance to tease Aoko; he felt alive and purposeful again.

On the flip side to how he felt during the day, KID felt energetic and full of purpose on heist nights. This was when Kaito finally felt like he was making progress on getting back to the normal life that he wanted. Every heist was another chance to find the right jewel and end all of his major problems. Every heist was accompanied by a silent prayer that he'd finally have his chance to show Aoko how he really felt and to be able to treat her the way he really wanted to rather than acting as her pervy classmate.

Immediately after every heist was the worst for Kaito. Each gem was yet another failure, another lost chance, another unanswered prayer. The aftermath was often spent just lying on his bed for hours until he could work up enough hope to start his scheme for the next heist.

Each day that passed, Kaito felt the divide between himself and Aoko widening marginally, and the worst part about it was that he couldn't afford to show his enemies that he cared enough to even ask her if she felt the same chasm that he did. Instead, he flipped a skirt, named off a color, and jumped away, avoiding any meaningful conversation for yet another day.

Underneath it all, Kuroba Kaito was a best friend who just wanted life to be simple enough to allow him to openly love Nakamori Aoko. But for now, he was willing to accept the label "pervert." It was better than nothing, after all.