Forever
She watched the rose petals fall
Note: Greatly GREATLY inspired by Reverse, a Noragami fic starring Yatori.
10.
She watched the rose petals fall.
9.
It was Valentines' day, a good season for roses. Everywhere Aoko's head turned, she could see ladies carrying red on them.
Aoko wasn't into flowers, but she had a particular interest for roses if she had to choose. It wasn't because she was a romance fanatic, there was something more to the dark red coloured petals and the green thorns that made her heart skipped a beat whenever she saw one.
She fiddled her thumb nervously and glanced up at the large clock tower.
Her date was five minutes late. Aoko's lip tugged. He better have a good reason to be.
"Hello miss, why are you alone?"
Aoko moved her eyes down to the source of the tiny voice and there stood in front of her was a petite looking boy with a puzzled look on his face. He carefully blinked his hazelnut eyes.
She couldn't help but bent down and smiled at the boy who approached her. His sudden appearance made her felt less lonely by a fold. "Oh, I'm waiting for a person."
In a swift, the boy who kept his hands hidden the whole time whipped out a rose from his pocket and showed it to Aoko. The stalk was a little bent, perhaps it was squashed when being kept in the pocket.
All of the sudden, the huge clock tower, the passer-bys, the loud horns in the distance; they all disappeared. All she could see was the broken rose.
As her wide eyes travelled from his hands, arms and to the face of the boy, she saw nothing but blue.
Bright, blue eyes.
Her breath hitched. "Kuroba...?"
The completely different boy smiled. "Hello, I'm-"
She blinked, and the boy with the brightest blue eyes was gone. The sound of laughter, the loud heels clacking on the pavements; it all came back. And in front of her stood the boy with light brown eyes again.
"Here's a flower for you!" He blurted. "You're very pretty, miss!" The boy pushed the rose into Aoko's hand and sprinted away into the crowd.
8.
Aoko loves making dinner parties at her house. She invited her friends, though most of them were unable to make it. Her neighbours were an easy help to clear away most of the food and this became a tradition.
She took the time going up to each of her neighbours' door to invite them, a better way of showing her sincerity. But there was particularly one house she walked past every time, not bothering to go through the gates and ring the bell.
It had been years since the house was left empty. Even the name plate was taken down. She wasn't sure why the house wasn't being rent out or sold, it was just there for as long as Aoko could remember.
But there was this warm fuzzy feeling whenever she took the time to admire the house from her balcony. It gave her warmth, and a feeling like second home. But when she tried to recall and understand the source of such weird feeling, her mind went hollow and she forgotten all about it.
7.
Magic shows always intrigued Aoko, but spending money on the expensive ticket sort of turned her away.
Akako seemed to know, for some reason. And whenever there was a magic show in town, she would invite her, along with a free ticket.
"But they're expensive! I can't accept it."
"Just take it as if I'me hiring you to accompany me. I don't want to watch alone."
Aoko shook her head and chuckled. "Then you should find a boyfriend soon, so you don't have to ask me to accompany you anymore."
"Very funny, Nakamori-san."
The magic show was a blast. And as usual, they would head to a small cafe afterwards and talked all about it till it was nearly late enough to deem dangerous for two girls to be out alone.
"It was fun today, Akako-chan. Thank you for the ticket."
"It's nothing." She waved her off and they parted ways.
If Aoko didn't turn her back so fast, she might have heard what Akako had to say.
"This is the least I can do."
6.
—pulled her down. The kiss lingered much longer despite the rain washing his touch away.
"Akako!" He growled. "Erase me. Now."
"K-Kaito?" Aoko blinked, her tears masked with the rain. "What are you talking about. Erase-"
"You can't remember me Aoko. If you do, you'll just cry forever."
Akako closed her eyes and turned away. She began carving weird circles onto the ground.
"Don't do whatever you are going to do Akako-chan!" Aoko shook her head, horrified. "No! Kaito, you left me years ago and now you're going to-"
"I'm sorry." Akako shut her eyes. "It's because I owed this good-for-nothing magician."
"I don't mind if you erase Kaitou Kid..." Aoko cried into the bloodied chest on the ground. The scent of metal was getting thicker and thicker. "I don't mind if you erase everything else, but don't erase Kuroba Kaito. Don't erase him. I don't want to forget you!"
"We're one." Kaito mumbled and blood spilled out from his mouth.
"No- Kaito!"
Red light suddenly engulfed the whole ground and before anything else happened, Aoko could only see black.
5.
This wasn't the reunion Aoko expected.
Cradling in her arms was a bloodied body of a white phantom thief. This was what she originally thought, until the top hat and monocle fell from his face.
"No-!"
"I'm sorry." Kaito muttered as her sobs echoed in the rain. "This wasn't the way I imagined seeing you again."
Akako gritted her teeth. "You fool!" She screamed as the raindrops continued falling from the sky. "Just shut up and-"
Kaito grabbed hold of Akako's wrist and tightened the grasp. "Save your energy a-and do what I told you to do."
Akako widened her eyes.
"Do what? Kaito?!" Aoko choked. "You have a lot to explain and-"
"This." Kaito turned over to Aoko and her chest cringed "This is the way I imagine seeing you again." He reached out for the back of her neck and—
4.
The bouquet of roses stayed fresh till the end of the week. And that was the week when Kaito flew off to Las Vegas.
3.
Aoko graduated with a nearly perfect score, and that was enough for everyone who loved her to be proud.
"You did well." Her father said.
She broke into a smile. Those three words were enough.
"Hey."
Aoko turned away and her father left. She wondered if he was trying to be polite and gave them space.
"Kaito." That was the only word she could say.
"Finally you've proven you do have a brain."
"Is this the only thing you can say?!"
He flashed out a bouquet of, no- not daises, tulips, orchids or anything normal. A bouquet of bright red roses.
She accepted the roses with trembling fingers. "I- They're beautiful." It didn't look but smelt beautiful as well.
"They're cultivated." He added.
Aoko raised an eyebrow.
"What about the frequent roses you used for your pranks and magics?"
Kaito glanced away.
2.
"Las Vegas."
"What?"
"I'm going there after I graduate." Kaito bit off one chunk of his ice pop.
Something in Aoko's chest broke. She set her hand on her lap, the ice cream was left forgotten. There was something more important weighing in her mind.
"Forever?"
"Hmm?"
"You're going to stay there forever?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Who knows."
1.
She tried not to be sad when the rose wilted and died two days later
0.
"Hello, I'm Kuroba Kaito! Nice to meet you!"
She accepted the fresh and healthy rose into her hand. Unable to help it, her lips twitched up into a smile.
"I'm Nakamori Aoko."
"Let's be friends!" The boy named Kuroba Kaito said enthusiastically.
Aoko looked up sharply, her eyes feeling a little moist. Ever since she moved into this neighborhood, this was the first time someone came to her and asked to be friends.
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"F-Forever?" If Aoko could remember what she said in the future, she would have chided herself for pushing her luck and asking such an embarrassing question, but the current young self didn't mind about that. She wanted the truth. It was hard when people kept on leaving her.
However, there was no hesitation in the boy's bright blue eyes.
"Forever!"