Circle of Fate

Meeting him was fate, trusting him was a choice. And beyond her control, love got to mess her up in some way or another. Police-setting AU

1: Kuroba Kaito

Fate had always been a funny thing.

Some people felt that opportunities and events happened because of their own choices and minds, while the rest thought that certain occurrences happened because they were predetermined. Both of these beliefs weren't wrong, but there was no definite side that one could be sure of.

For example. Nakamori Aoko had decided to squeeze herself behind a big pillar under the clock tower because she wanted to avoid the sun. It was her choice, she could have brought an umbrella out while waiting for her father, but she didn't want to because she found it troublesome.

Another example. Nakamori Aoko had choose to follow her father's footstep and joined the police workforce to be as hardworking as her father had always been. He influenced her decision in some way, but she always had other alternatives to consider.

And of course, it was entirely Nakamori Aoko's decision to work her ass off for her passion every single day. Eventually, she was spotted for her talents and efforts and was transferred over to a particular Division 1 she always wanted to join; a team of trained and skilled detectives who solved numerous vital cases belonging under the great Detective of the East, Kudo Shinichi.

But like once said, everything wasn't exactly up to our control.

For example. Taking three steps too early before reaching the pillar, or turning her head two seconds too late before a little young boy spotted her from afar.

It was just a little thing that couldn't have possibly made any big difference in Nakamori Aoko's life. But it did. She never once had to walk past an advertisement of a ski resort with a sad frown. She never once had to rack her brains to get ideas for dinner plans because fish was always an easy dish to prepare. She never once had to look into the mirror twice and wonder if she should do anything to her looks or body to change the impression of others.

She never once knew who Kuroba Kaito was.

.o.

Finding her way to her new department wasn't an easy task, especially when there wasn't something like an orientation for the ever-busy life of a police. Aoko was told someone would guide her around soon, but it was rather ironic when the tour happened after she had basically roamed the entire building just to find the place she had to report to.

She asked around, to receive different answers from different people most of the time. On the fifteenth floor of the building, she had changed her focus and was heading towards a vending machine to get a drink instead when she accidentally bumped into a man walking around the corner of the corridor. A simple apology could have fixed it, but it wasn't that easy when almost a dozen files slipped out of the man's hands and fell to the ground, countless papers scattering all over and covering the entire floor in white.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I'm so sorry." Aoko squatted down and frantically tried to save what she could, but the man gave her no chance and pushed her hands away.

"Stop. Stop." He growled and squatted opposite her. "God, I've bloody sorted the papers for two hours and it's in a mess again."

"I'm trying to help."

"Oh yeah." He snapped and randomly slotted the papers back into the files he guessed was correct. "You'll be helping if you move your ass away."

Her embarrassment and guilt that caused her cheeks to tint pink was long gone, replacing with fury and unjust that made her face turned bright red instead. Hadn't she apologized? Hadn't she offered to help? What was wrong with this guy?!

Aoko glared hard at him, trying to get his blue eyes away from the ground to look at her, just to show and let him know how furious she was right now. But he didn't notice, or rather, didn't care. Still, she didn't budge in her squatting position and continued her one-sided staring contest until she realized something she couldn't believe. Nonetheless, the words came out before she could stop herself.

"Inspector Kudo Shinichi?"

Her unintentional calling worked wonders to get him to glance up at her sharply, his face turned even darker than previously.

"I'm not Kudo Shinichi." He muttered.

How could that be? She had idolized the detective since she was going through trainings to become a police officer, and she had read every newspapers and magazines about him, with all sorts of his pictures with different camera angles being the main attention of the page. There was no way she could be wrong-

The swaying pass hanging over the man's neck caught her attention in an instant. She decided to use her own measures to confirm about her own theory and stared at the identification picture (who she still believed was Kudo Shinichi) before her eyes travelled down to the name below it.

Kuroba Kaito
Division 1: Homicide Squad

"I think I should help." Aoko gulped and offered her hand to the files that he had finished randomly sorting. His brows furrowed a little and his blue eyes moved to her chest. She was positive that the blouse she wore today would cover enough and prevent him from taking advantage on her, but she looked down just to make sure.

"Oh." He dropped the few papers he picked up in his hand and tugged onto her ID. She felt her lanyard pulling her neck down, though she remained as firm as she could. "I suppose we'll be working real close together, Nakamori Aoko."

She wished he was wrong about that, even if he didn't sound pleasant about it at all.

He dumped more than half of the finished and arranged files onto her arms and led her to the Division 1 department. It seemed it was on the next floor, one that she was about to visit before that tragic accident happened. Weirdly, he didn't ask which team she was assigned to since there were up to a dozen teams within Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters, though she presumably guessed it was because he wasn't interested. She wasn't really interested in his either.

But that beautiful ignorance lasted for two minutes when he pushed past the glass door to an empty office and asked her to put the files she carried for him on a desk, which she guessed belonged to him when he sat on the roller chair in front of it. Before she could even ask him about where to find Kudo Shinichi, the very said man walked out of a room that was located at the corner of the office.

"Ah, Nakamori-san, right?" Kudo Shinichi smiled when their eyes met and gestured her into the room he just walked out. "I was about to send a search party for you. Come in."

Her jaws dropped as she took a quick glance at Kuroba Kaito at his desk, his head down and focused on... his phone and the Candy Crush game. What the hell? The files were left aside on his messy desk, seemed to have been forgotten.

Aoko tentatively walked towards the room, her head hung a little low. The excitement and joy she once felt about her transfer had died bit by bit when she was trying to find her way around the huge building, and it was completely gone when she noted the too-empty desk situated a few feet away from the man she met in an unpleasant encounter just ten minutes ago.

She always trusted her guts' feeling. But there wasn't a need for a brain to know her new life wouldn't be as smooth as she thought it would be.

.o.

Though Aoko wasn't the youngest, she was definitely new on this team. And status and rank did mean a lot in the police force, not just for the amount of respect to be given, but also the duties provided to the respective people. She was not excluded from this unspoken rule.

So when she came back to her desk after submitting a report, she saw a piece of note over her keyboards, scribbled with different kinds of coffee each member on the team wanted.

She headed to the pantry area quietly and began her mundane task. It always took her some time to get everything on the list done, and she prayed none of the higher ranks members (those that were obviously not on the coffee list) wouldn't think she had went to take some unauthorized long breaks. She had enough shit to deal with.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Aoko flinched in surprise, some sugar had spilled out from the opened sachet and scattered over her hand. She gritted her teeth in annoyance before turning to stare at the man she recognized from the voice. "I'm making coffee." She didn't bother to hide the are-you-blind tone as she swiped off the sugar bits into a little bin on the floor conveniently beside her. Thankfully, somehow, he didn't seem to pick up her little rude attitude.

"I didn't know you have six mouths."

She licked her dry lips and eyed at the sticky note she pasted on the cabinet above her head for easier reference. It wasn't on purpose that she wanted to expose her coffee duties, but she couldn't help but to automatically look at the paper, just because. And obviously Kuroba Kaito spotted it. He peeled the note off the cabinet, none to gentle.

"Cappuccino... Latte..." He flicked a gaze over to her. "Learn how to write their names in cursive on their cups and you're all ready to become a great barista from Starbucks."

"I-"

"How long has this been going?"

"Erm, I'm not sure." Probably the time since she joined, which was nearly three weeks ago... not like her answer mattered. She really didn't want trouble with her colleagues because her very first day proved her point. She tentatively glanced down at the note in Kuroba Kaito's hand, praying slightly he would return it back to her already. She needed to see whether Sakamoto-kun wanted a teaspoon of sugar or one and a quarter teaspoon of sugar for his coffee. He never once wanted the same amount of sugar for his coffee every time. She wondered if people were just plainly weird or he wanted to make her coffee duties a little more different and interesting every day. Probably the former.

"You're not here for a coffee run. Don't give them a chance to bully you because you're new."

Didn't you do the same to me when we first met? The words were stuck in her throat. Still, she gave him her thanks for his kind-of-not-helping-but-a-little-comforting comment. He waved her off nonchalantly before shoving a folder into her hand.

"What's this?" Aoko blinked.

"Your first case."

She opened the file incredulously and peered at the brief report. It was regarding about a murder case that happened a few days ago and she was left out from it because she was obviously too busy for her data entry duties and excel spreadsheets to be called in for it.

"You're working this case with me. Holmes's freak wants you to try out in the field."

There were so many things running through her mind that she didn't know what to focus on. She gaped at Kuroba Kaito and then at the precious details and records he had already gathered about the murder since the first day. This was her first homicide case ever since she joined the team-! But first... "Holmes's freak...?"

"You'll understand what I mean soon." He scoffed and jabbed a finger into the file. "I'll go get the car. We'll be going to the victim's workplace to interview some people. Read the content as much as you can. I'll talk more about it on the way."

Aoko dumbly peered over her shoulder and stared at the six cups of drinks. "What about-"

"What do you think?"

She gripped onto the folder and nodded, her decision silently made.

When they headed out of the pantry area, a few heads lifted up expectantly at her until they realized they weren't going to get their drinks delivered to their tables now, or ever again. This time, somehow, Aoko was able to raise her head a little higher as she snaked her way to the door, following closely behind Kuroba Kaito out and to the car park.

.o.

Interviewing the dead could have been easier.

It was the usual routine every time a murder happened. Breaking the news to the poor family members and asking for details about the victim, about what they did, where they hung out, who they possible offended and such.

And that didn't exclude a young girl who died this wee morning after she was found in the park, rape and murdered. It was a tragedy that Aoko couldn't help but choke a little when she went to the scene with the others, and it didn't help when the forensics had brought in reports from the morgue later that day, stating there were more hidden injuries on the victim, and it didn't occur on the day she died. It was definitely a case related to abuse too.

The mother held no pain, no sadness and no anger when Aoko and Kuroba Kaito knocked on her door. She simply gestured them into the tattered home with a cigarette in her mouth without any emotions in her eyes. They interrogated for a bit, and the mother replied with vague answers that wasn't any help in the investigation. Aoko had noticed Kuroba Kaito was tapping his feet rather impatiently ever since they sat on the dusty couch, but it was her who blew up first.

"There were bruise and injuries on the victim's back and arms, and those didn't happen during the murder." She pretended to read from her notes, but she had already got all the information jotted in her head. "Do you have any idea what had happened?"

"She fell." The mother shrugged nonchalantly. "Or maybe she knocked against a cabinet. Who knows?"

"I'm pretty sure you knew, madam." Aoko whispered through gritted teeth. "The reason why your daughter had ran away too."

"Haven't I said I don't know?" The mother grudgingly stubbed the cigarette onto the table. "And why do I feel like you're trying to make me sound like the criminal here?"

"Your so-called accidents were all behind closed doors, just like how those bruise and scars were once hidden behind her clothes." Aoko growled, her throat turning sour. "But those doors aren't closed anymore. You don't have the luxury of your pathetic privacy. We'll find out everything. One way or another. Sooner or later."

"Are you threatening me?!"

"I'm just stating the fact." Aoko jumped up from her seat and glanced at Kuroba Kaito, who was watching her for a while with an impressive poker-face. "Thank you for your time. We will be leaving now."

It was never her cue to determine whether an interrogation or interview was over, and she realized her mistake a little too late. But Kuroba Kaito stood up without a word and headed to the door with his hands in his pocket. She followed behind and he opened the door when the owner obviously showed no intention of wanting to send them out.

Aoko stomped towards the car that was parked by the pavement, hoping to dispel all the anger within her as much as she could before the ride back to the headquarters. She had to wait for Kuroba Kaito to unlock the car, which was typically slow for some reason and it helped nothing to soothe her temper.

After they got in the car, she put on her seat belt, trying to ignore the obvious gaze directing towards her. She gave up in the end and looked at him.

"Menopause?"

Screw you. "No."

"You're less empathetic than usual."

"She deserved that."

"And... you're not regretting it?"

Aoko bit her lips, the pang of guilt kicked in on the cue. Maybe she was a little harsh, and maybe it wasn't her rights to determine if the mother was right or wrong. But she said what she felt and-

"You don't have to feel bad. You said what's right." He leaned in close towards her, still not making any signs of starting the car. "I like it when you look like some little kitten, but appear so tiger-like whenever you want. Maybe I can let you be the bad cop once in a while."

She gave a withering look. "If you're not going to drive any time soon, you're going to see the tiger in me up close."

"Nakamori?" It was a warning in four syllables, and she instantly knew why.

"You're going to see the tiger in me up close, Inspector Kuroba."

"That's better." He grinned and started the car.

.o.

Murder cases didn't have specific seasons. They strike and it happened, no matter what kind of day or date or period of the year. Work always kept Aoko busy. Her precious time she once used to spend shopping or watching movies were at the bottom of the list of things to do even during the weekends now. But it didn't stop her from loving her job. Somehow, she had finally understood her father's action in the past.

And because she spent more than half of her time at the office, her interactions with her colleagues increased more and more, and it wasn't strange when rumours and gossips began floating here and there. Little things like two people coincidentally going to the pantry area at the same time would mean they were having an affair, or when someone went to the bathroom a little bit longer than others meant they were having a wank.

Aoko wasn't excluded from all these shit either.

"You did a good job." Shinichi closed the file of her report with a proud little smile. It was more than what she deserved.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement and they exchanged a few brief mundane conversation before she headed out of his personal office. When the door closed behind her, she didn't miss out a few of her colleagues scurrying back to their desk and looking extremely focused on their work, like they were obviously not talking behind her back.

It was better to play along and pretend she didn't notice too. As she walked back to her desk and slumped onto her chair, she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder. Her guts' feeling was right. Kuroba Kaito was staring at her, both of his feet propped up on his desk and a newspaper in his hand.

"What." She muttered.

"Want a coffee?"

"I just-"

"Good to hear. Let's go." He folded the newspaper and dumped them on his chair and signalled her out to the door. "The vending machine."

It didn't sound like an invitation she could decline. Sighing inwardly, she abandoned her work post and left for the door, following him out to the corridor.

When they both reached the vending machine, he stood aside and gestured her closer.

"Ladies first."

Aoko raised an eyebrow and flipped the coins she had prepared on her hand while she was walking to the vending machine. It was weird for Kuroba Kaito to be so nice to her out of the sudden, but maybe today was her lucky day. Maybe. She shook away the thought and stepped a little closer and pushed the coins into the hole, the lights on the drinks' buttons lit up. Just when she was about to press her choice, Kuroba Kaito abruptly slammed his hand on the vending machine and a button was pressed.

"Opps."

"What the hell?"

"I felt an itch at my back. It was a reflex."

A can of coffee dropped down and the lights on the buttons disappeared. Aoko frowned. "I didn't want that."

"It's non-refundable."

"Then you should pay me."

"It's an accident. According to the law, I don't owe you anything." He bent down and retrieved the coffee. "And since you didn't want this, I'll drink it for your sake. You should thank me for saving you from the guilt of world hunger."

Aoko clicked her tongue and dug into her pockets again, luckily fishing out a bunch of leftover coins she could use for the drink she wanted. She eyed him, making sure he wasn't going to do any stupid move and slotted the coins in before quickly punching the button. The soft drink she wanted dropped down in a second.

She cracked open her can and took a little sip. It was nice to have breaks like this often.

"So what's up with you and the Holmes's freak?"

This was not the nice break she was referring to.

"There's nothing between us."

It was so obvious that the rumours that were going around involved her having a relationship with her boss. Aoko had no idea how and who the hell came up with something insane like this, but it happened, and it didn't die down even after this ridiculous story was spreading around for a month. She thought they would eventually move on to some better gossips to pass their time, and she had never been so wrong. Her sort-of-partner didn't talk about it to her once, until today. She wasn't surprise that he did, but she was surprise he did it now, after so long.

"It's not healthy to start a relationship with people in the office." He shrugged. "It's bloody troublesome and tiring."

"Came from an experience?" She dryly joked.

"Many experiences."

"Seriously?" She was struggling between thinking whether she should commit insubordination and ask who those poor and unlucky girls were or stay mute. But he helped her with her decision.

"It's a fling. Nothing more than that. But it's already complicated. So do you get my point?"

Aoko blinked. "Erm, thanks for your constructive feedback but I'm not in a relationship with anyone. And that includes the boss."

"Right." He drawled.

"Why don't you believe me?"

"I never say I didn't."

"You sounded like you're don't."

"It seems I've trained you well with your observation skills." He gave a grin that tempted her to roll her eyes. "But honestly, I couldn't care less. Just don't affect your work performance and drag me down and I'll thank heaven for that"

She scowled. "And why are we having this conversation again?"

"For the coffee." He raised his metal can and took a sip. "Thanks for the treat, Nakamori."

As he walked off, Aoko swore she saw a smirk tugging on his lips.

.o.

Previously being under the fraud department in a smaller police headquarters, Aoko interacted more with the living rather than the dead. It was an irony that she never liked murder, yet she was working in the department that consisted nothing but it.

Knowing the mentality and the reasons behind the murder could greatly help to find who the killer was much easier. This was what Shinichi once tipped her about when she was stuck in a case, but the side effect of getting too into that role was a little too much for her. So here she was in a quiet bar not far from her home after a fruitful day at work, just to get rid of those negative feelings lurking in her head. She knew her body well. A glass of beer was enough for her to get a good and undisturbed sleep for the whole night, and that was exactly what she needed to get the best rest today. She thought she deserved it.

"I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together tonight."

Aoko blinked into her beer and glanced to her side.

It took her a little while to focus her eyes on the man that stood beside her. The light slanted across his face, highlighting the lining in his cheeks, the edge of his jaw, the full curves of his lower lips. It struck sparks in his sea blue eyes. Instead of caring about what she saw under the dim, romantic lights, she started to take notice of the familiarity of his scent, the way he leaned his body against the counter, and how his slightly melancholic voice echoed in her mind even though he was no longer speaking.

She widened her eyes. And so did the man.

"Nakamori?"

"Kuroba."

Aoko wrinkled her nose in disgust as they both slouched in sync. She wasn't sure if his reason was the same as hers, but maybe it was close enough.

"Is that how you pick up girls?" She snorted

"I didn't."

"I'm pretty sure you just tried something on me."

"Don't flatter yourself. You're not my type." He muttered at the translucent lamps hanging above their head.

She had no idea why she was feeling so particularly bold that night. Was it the alcohol? Probably. Even if it was not, she didn't care to know. All she wanted was to get her clouded mind to clear. "What's your type?"

"Busty."

"That's all?"

"It's all I need. And all the things you don't have."

She growled softly under her breath. "Only jerks care about that."

"All men do. You can try asking your ex-boyfriends."

"I don't have any boyfriends before."

"Ah, that proves my point even more, doesn't it?"

Her hand gripped around her glass tightly as she felt her small smile stiffened on her face. "Sorry, but I'll like to have my drink in peace."

He raised his glass and gave a smile obviously brighter than hers back before making his way to the crowd and disappeared, probably going to find his next target or some sort. Aoko heaved a heavy and deep sigh, letting out all the fuss and anger in her. She was so, so tempted to whip something, probably a mop, over his good head just for the sake of it.

The reason why she didn't wasn't only because he was higher in rank than her within the team. Even with his numerous personality defects she found out about him for the past few months after her transfer, Kuroba Kaito was really good and smart at what he was doing. She learnt a lot from him, including redundant information like how women blink nearly twice more than men. That point was made because he commented about how her fluttering eyelashes were distracting him while they were investigating a murder scene. How could he blame her for a habit she couldn't get rid when she was trying to positively think hard for the case? Why was he even looking at her eyelashes in the first place?!

Aoko took in a deep breath and sipped onto her beer, trying to force herself to let loose by not thinking about anything. She almost succeeded if she hadn't spotted Kuroba Kaito strolling out of the bar a few moments later, with a happy and busty lady in his arms.

.o.

A stakeout was one of the most common duties in the team, but that didn't mean Aoko was used to it.

She rubbed her puffy eyes and stared out of the car window and at one of the five houses that the current suspect of a murder owned. The rich bastard's location was currently unknown, so with the limited manpower Shinichi had, the team was split to five teams to look out for all his houses as there was a high chance he would eventually go back to one.

For some reason or another, she was stuck in the same car as Kuroba Kaito, alone.

He threw the binoculars over the dashboard and turned to the back seat. She glanced at him busily rummaging behind and was about to ask what he was up to when he took a packet of sandwich and shoved it in her face.

"Eat this."

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm not asking if you're hungry." He dumped it onto her lap instead. "Keep yourself busy by eating or you'll fall asleep."

She scrutinized the messy passenger seats doubtfully for a while and nervously turned towards him. "May I know how old is this bread?"

"I bought it an hour before the stakeout." He looked a little offended.

"Just asking to make sure."

"Yeah, right."

Not bothering to sound like she was grateful, at least not for him, she peeled off the plastic and was about to devour the chicken sandwich when she felt her head plunged forward, her nose dipped right into the mayonnaise.

"Wha da hell-!" Her voice muffled into the bread

"Lie low." He whispered beside her, his head hung equally low. "Target is here."

She struggled under his tight grasp and gave up when he showed no signs to let go. After a few seconds, he lifted his head and removed his hand from her head and she could finally breathe in fresh air rather than the stale bread.

"You got something on your nose."

"I know." She snapped and wiped the mayonnaise off.

He gave a brief report on the radio that their house they were spying on was the jackpot. As everyone was making their way to where they were at, Shinichi tasked them to be in charge to stall the criminal as much as they could. The murder involved the usage of a gun, and that should obviously mean something. Even if the arrest was important, their safety was still priority-

Kuroba Kaito cut the chit-chat and switched the radio off, much to her dismay. She should have expected it coming.

They got out of the car and silently made their way towards the house. Surprisingly, the door was left ajar and they took out their hidden gun in sync and pressed their glued arms closed to their chest. He eyed her for a second and she nodded to tell him she was ready. She had always been ready. Her hand gripped tightly to the gun. She hoped she was right about herself.

He pushed the door gently before shoving it aside and jumped in, his pistol's barrel pointing at thin air. She followed in quietly behind him after he made sure there wasn't anyone preparing an ambush near them. Everything was dark, only the little light from outside helped to illuminate the house. He signalled her to the kitchen that was on the right of the corridor while he stealthily walked towards the end, which linked to the living room. Obeying the command, she tiptoed her way towards the kitchen and swung her gun when she entered. It was empty.

That was when she heard a loud crash coming the other side of the house. And she was positive it was the direction of the living room.

She sprinted towards the commotion and found Kuroba Kaito struggling under a bulky man that fitted the description of the suspect, two guns were abandoned and luckily out of their reach. The suspect gave a solid punch at Kuroba Kaito's stomach, to which he gave a low groan before attempting a punch at the suspect's face. At the split moment after his attack, he caught sight of her and glared. She easily translated as: What the heck are you doing?

It would be dangerous to use her gun since the wrestling was making her aim difficult. Instead, she shoved the gun back into her pocket and picked up a lamp and landed it over the back of the suspect's neck. He was instantly knocked out cold and collapsed onto Kuroba Kaito and he pushed him off his body to get back up to his feet.

"Extremely fast, Nakamori." He growled and rubbed his stomach.

She didn't miss out his tone of sarcasm. "I'm trying to find a safe way to attack."

He ignored her and picked up his radio that was also on the floor, probably being cast aside during the fight. While he was updating the status of the criminal back to the team, she took the chance to handcuff the man, making sure he wouldn't wake up in the middle and attack again. They would be staying here a tad bit longer after all, to collect all the evidence the criminal had possibly stored here.

After he was done, Kuroba Kaito stared at the unconscious suspect and frowned at her.

"How hard did you hit him anyway?"

"Very." She shrugged. "I imagined he was you."

I've recently read a couple of detective fiction-stories and eventually ended up loving the idea of a police-settings AU (and also because some of u voted in my poll that you wanted to read more AUs too), so this fic happened. Basically this story would most likely be a strings of events about these two in this alternate universe and then... Romance...? I hope so too lol.

Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated :)