Chapter 2: A Christmas No One Forgot
-PUSH-
"Damn it Keiko-chan, if you do that one more time!" I left the threat hanging as the girl giggled and ran off to get something to drink.
That was a close one.
Aoko had invited a lot of people from class to her party and Keiko had persuaded a few of them that it would be cute if she could get me and Aoko under the mistletoe. They were tricky and I'd already knocked over the only house plant in the room to get out of the way.
Hakuba had even taken a few stabs at it.
Which I was surprised about. He said that he wasn't interested in Aoko but I hadn't believed him. I tried to ask him about it but he shrugged me off, commenting that he couldn't compete against me for her heart.
That made me blush and I was content not to bring up the subject again.
It was a good thing that Akako turned down Aoko's offer to come or there would be more than a few absent students for the next few weeks, cursed, sick in bed, or whatever the witch decided to do to them.
-PUSH-
"I warned you!"
I grabbed Keiko's hand before she could run away and swung her under the hanging plant tendril. I took a stuffed frog out of my pocket - so sue me, I liked keeping a bunch of random stuff around. You never knew when it could come in handy - and was about to have her kiss it. In the end I placed it on her head and walked away. "I won't be so nice next time."
Under her black rimmed glasses I could see that she was flushed. What did she think I was going to do?
I sighed. Put a frog on a girl's head and they're suddenly infatuated with you. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand females when it comes to their affections. I'd won the hearts of others easily as Kid with simply a small motion, a word, or my sheer presence. I didn't think how it translated to my high school self and a frog.
I was wrong.
"Momori-kun stop teasing Kuroba-kun, I think he was trying to be serious."
Keiko reached up and took the frog off, before shaking her head. The blush faded. "Yeah, I know."
"And you," Hakuba walked up to me. "Smile. Aoko-kun's not going to be happy if you keep frowning the whole time."
"Well, if everyone would stop pushing me around."
"It's a party Kuroba-kun, they're just having fun." Hakuba laughed, "I never thought I would say this to you but, lighten up."
"I know." I picked up a cup of juice and was tempted to throw it at him. Look, I'm lightening up.
"Hey, where's the star?" I heard Aoko ask.
I waited while a few of the guests looked up at the tree Aoko, once again, got for Christmas. The smell of pine wasn't as overpowering as it usually was, so I hadn't been too sure if it was real until I'd gotten closer.
"Oh, it's around here somewhere."
Everyone turned to face me with open eyes before glancing around, already suspecting something was up.
"Kaito what did you do?"
"Well, you're the star of the party and, so far, I haven't done anything to you."
I leaned over and kissed her on the check, getting a round of 'oohhs' from the room. Aoko backed up and put a hand up to her face.
"Kaito!"
"Oh, wow!" Keiko took Aoko's hand away and there was a bright red star where I had kissed her. Aoko's fingerprints didn't smear the design and everyone looked between the two of us, trying to figure out how I had done it.
"Is that the star you were looking for?" I scratched the back of my head before reaching up into the air with one arm in a flourish, having a bright ball of light appear to float a few inches above my palm. "Or maybe it was something like this? Then again, you wouldn't be looking for a real star."
The lights clicked out and the small light above my hand illuminated the room, bright enough to leave light streaks across my vision but dim enough for them to fade a few seconds like an afterglow; much like a firework lights up the sky without blinding you.
I lowered my hand so that it was floating above both of my palms before slapping them together like squishing a mosquito. The disintegration of the light was mirrored by a splattering of luminescence across Aoko's walls and ceiling.
I got a more quiet reaction for that, as everyone took in the sight of the night's sky. I'd included the Milky Way and a few other cosmic bodies just for the cosmetics of it.
"Wow," Momoko spoke up, giggling and breaking the silence. Murmurs of delight followed after that, and my grin was hidden in the softer glow of the luminescent paint.
"Oh! This is what you were looking for!" I snapped and the star that had been on the Christmas tree was now covered in the luminescent paint as well, though I'd changed the tint to make it a blue shade, for Aoko.
The red star that was still on her cheek was glowing, so it was easy to find her. I'd marked her as my target from the beginning.
I took her hand and dragged her out of the room. Aoko made a few complaints but followed, so I wasn't completely dragging her. I closed the door when I got us out of her main room and caught a quick look from her father. I hoped the wave I gave him was enough not to encourage him to follow us.
The hallway was dark and Aoko was left slightly out of breath. I snapped and the little light ball I'd made in the room was back, but now it was in my hand, motionless and in one piece again. I used my other hand to dig into my pocket and take out a large box wrapped in red and green striped paper.
"Merry Christmas, Aoko!" I smiled and handed it to her.
"Kaito, that was amazing." She looked down at the box and back up to me. "You didn't have to get me anything."
"But I did, and don't even try to give it back. It wouldn't look go on me." I shrugged, "And it's the first Christmas present I've given you, and it's from me, so it's different."
"Right," I heard her laugh and she looked down, the light shadowing her eyes so that I couldn't see them. "Thank you."
"You haven't even opened it yet." I messed up her hair and she let out a breath before looking at me with strangely little emotion.
"I mean thank you for everything; the lights, the present... for coming this year. I finally got everyone together."
Aoko couldn't see me clench my hand and my smile waver before she looked up, so I had time to seem happy. What kind of best friend was I if I couldn't even go to the events of the year that demanded that type of interaction? I'd already messed up her birthday and last Christmas, I wasn't going to mess up again.
Aoko took care to open the paper gently, without ripping it apart like she used to attack her presents when we were children. A lot had changed and it made me feel bad that I wasn't noticing it.
She looked at the black box and opened it, staring blankly at the necklace inside.
"Kaito... Did you make this?"
Aoko took out the silver chain and looked at the circle, which about an inch-in-a-half long in diameter, and at the stars encircled in it, each a difference size and facing a different direction. I'd been a little rough with it, because I wasn't used to iron work of that sort. The molding had taken me over a week to get right.
"Maybe." I took it from her fingers and fastened it around her neck. Aoko held the silver pendent in her hands and continued to look at it with tenderness. "I wanted to give you the stars and this is what I came up with."
"Thank you." Aoko's words were almost silent and I could feel the atmosphere changing. "Kaito. Thanks."
She started crying.
"Aoko, what's the matter?" I fumbled with the glowing ball before putting it in the cuff of my sleeve, so that we wouldn't be totally left in the dark, and placed my hands on her shoulders. I couldn't make out her expression in the near blackness. "Aoko?"
"It's just... I... I didn't really know what to get you. You're present is so nice..."
"Idiot, that doesn't matter." I took one hand off so that the light wouldn't fall, and tapped her shoulder with the other.
"I'm not an idiot!"
Aoko tore away from me, running off and- damn it, I didn't know what I had done wrong but something I said upset her. It took me seconds to catch up to her in the narrow hallway where she'd been making for the stairs.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what I did but I'm sorry." Once I had one of her arms I spun her around so that she was looking at me and took her other wrist. "Aoko, it's Christmas, you shouldn't be crying. I'm sorry if I made you upset."
"Kaito just let me go!" Aoko struggled and kept her head down. "I just want to get away from you!"
I didn't even notice that I'd released her after she said that.
"If that's what you want."
Aoko nodded before heading up the stairs where her bedroom was. I watched her shadow move down the hallway, followed by the sound her door closing. I waited for a minute but she didn't come back out.
"What did I do?" I asked myself. The stairs were perpendicular to the hallway and I sat down, leaning against the wall. I couldn't go back to the party without Aoko. There would already be a lot of talk flying around. But that wasn't the main reason I couldn't seem to move. I also felt bad, and it made me angry that I didn't know what I'd done wrong. I usually did.
I looked up at the ceiling for answers but it gave me nothing, except blurring my vision from trying to see through the darkness for too long.
Aoko's door opened more than ten minutes later. I peeked my head around the corner to see her coming towards me and went to get up.
"Kaito, stay where you are!"
I stayed, relaxing back into a sitting position.
Aoko got to the bottom and we were able to see each other better, though I still couldn't make out her expression.
"Face forward."
"Okay." I faced forward.
She was up to something.
Aoko was on the bottom step and all but next to me. She put her hand around the corner and pushed my head to the side. "I said face forward."
I watched the adjacent wall in silence.
"I'm sorry Kaito. I didn't mean to get so mad. It just - it's been weird."
"Weird how?"
"Well." I could tell she was twirling her fingers even though I couldn't see her. "Ever since you came back from the hospital it's been different. I was scared but you got better - physically. You seem scared now. Like... like something bad is going to happen and you're preparing for it."
"Aoko, it's not like that. It just" - not scared - "worried me that something might happen one day, and I didn't want to regret anything if it did."
"I'm not going anywhere and you aren't either. Stop - stop this."
"I didn't notice I was doing anything differently. Sorry." I looked at her around the corner and she shoved her hand in my face.
"Don't look yet."
"You know you should really cross your legs when you're sitting in a dress. You don't want everyone seeing your white undies."
"Kaito!" Aoko sighed and I heard the rustling of a bag. "You always do that."
"Do what?" I asked innocently.
"You try and make me mad at you so that I don't pay attention to what we were talking about before." She let out a shallow laugh. "It works, but I'm not stupid."
"No, you're not." I placed my hand in front of the steps but didn't turn to look at her. "I'm sorry if I've been acting weird. I know that nothing bad is going to happen" I won't let it "but you never know what tomorrow's going to bring." I smiled, lightening my own mood, because Aoko wouldn't be able to see it in the dark.
"See? Now I can't tell if you're serious or if you're setting me up for another one of you're stupid tricks."
I laughed.
"Hey, I was being serious this time! Oh woe is me to be so misunderstood!" I put a hand on my cheek and turned my head to the side. Aoko laughed and scooted down to sit next to me on the floor.
"I guess you're right. You never know what's going to happen. You better be here to face it with me!" Aoko shoved a small bag with colorful paper inside of it into my hands. If not for the little ball of light, I wouldn't have been able to distinguish the colors. "I'm sorry that it's small."
"I don't think it could be smaller than my gift."
"Kaito that's not what I meant."
I grinned. "I know."
I placed the ball on the ground in front of me. The light threw shadows around the room from the bag and paper when I positioned it on the floor as well.
Inside the container was a plant. The paper had been put in painstakingly, so as not to hurt either of the two large flowers that were growing, just able to hide inside the twelve inch colorful plastic, separated into two pots.
"I thought it was time I gave you a flower. It's about to die but it will live for years if you plant it in the summer."
"How'd you get it to bloom in the winter?" I played with the intricate petals. It was hard to see in the low light but I could just make out traces of a deeper cherry color inside the azure blossoms, hidden within more layers of petals than a rose could ever have.
"Keiko's aunt has a flower shop and she kept a few separate in a greenhouse so that she could sell flowers during the colder seasons."
"Kinda weird to give a guy flowers Aoko. It's very manly of you." I narrowed my eyes and gave her a condescending look.
"Then give them back."
I kept the bag out of her hand when she reached for it, and held it out to my other side so that she'd have to climb over me to get to them.
"Nah, I think I'll keep them." Them. That brought up a question. "Hey, Aoko, why'd you get two flowers?"
"Well, because," she looked over to the side so that I couldn't see her eyes. "It would be lonely for the flower if there was only one of them."
"Right. We wouldn't want the flower to be lonely now, would we?" I took her hand in mine and tried hard to hide my face as I got up so she wouldn't see me blush. "Let's go back to the party before this flower gets lonely."
"But I'm not lonely."
I put the bag down on a small side table at the bottom of the stairs. "Yeah but there are a horde of people here now. I'm sure being alone with me isn't much fun."
When I tried to pull her along with me, she fought back.
Aoko?
"I like being here."
She kept her head down and a strong hold on my hand. I wasn't really sure what to do with her.
"Quit acting like a little kid, Aoko. You have other people over too."
"I know that."
I tried to pull her along again but, as she did before, Aoko pulled back and kept us at a standstill.
"What? You want to do something else?"
"I don't know."
I waited in the dark hallway and had to stop myself when I realized I was tapping my foot in impatience – or nervousness. I wasn't sure.
"Well, do you want to go back to the party?"
Aoko paused for a few more moments.
"No."
"No? Then why'd you have the party to begin with?" I put my free hand up to my forehead. "You want to stay here? In the dark?" I asked sarcastically.
This time the there was no pause.
"Yes."
Huh?
"Ok then…" I sat back down against the wall, not a foot from where I had just been. "What do you want to do out here?"
"I don't know." Aoko sat down next to me and I felt her head rest on my shoulder.
My heart was racing from not only her closeness to me, but my bewilderment at her actions. I didn't know how far she would take them and I wasn't ready for any further commitments yet.
It took a while for me to swallow my discomfort and place my cheek against her hair, smelling the strawberry shampoo that she'd been using since she was ten.
"What's the matter, Aoko?"
"Nothing's the matter." She grabbed my arm, above my elbow, with both of her hands. I could feel how small her fingers were, barely long enough to wrap halfway around.
"You're acting really weird, you know." I didn't know what else to say to her. I was afraid that if I kept speaking my voice would crack.
"You're acting weird too. Now we're even."
Aoko got up so fast I was surprised we hadn't knocked heads.
"Now that I've gotten back at you, let's go back to the party." Aoko walked off before I even had a chance to get up and I heard her open the door down the hall to a few embarrassing comments before she closed it again, and I was left alone in the dark.
That was really bizarre, even for Aoko.
I must have been acting really messed up.
I knew myself well enough to understand when I was pushing things. Chaos, in its own way, was my approach on both life and everything in it. I could never get my emotions straight so it was easy to hide them. I could never make any solid judgments on right and wrong so it was easy to walk across both without feeling like I was the one or the other.
The only two things that I'd ever been certain of were that death was never a good thing, and that… I would do anything for Aoko.
I didn't like to admit to the second part because then I would be tied down. Then people could use that weakness against me. And, maybe, I wouldn't be strong enough to stop them.
I was getting so sick of pretending everything was all right because there was a large part of me, in the large and disorganized and idiotic portion of my mind, that wasn't. The Organization, Snake and his group, who knows how many others, were all out there and hurting people while I sat around doing nothing.
It wasn't like I was trying to be a hero. It just kind of happened that way sometimes.
I'd gotten a good look at some of the people who'd been taken out of the building after the detectives got me out, people I hadn't even known were in trouble and in a much worse situation then I could have dreamed up. My nightmares were having fun with those images these last few months.
It wasn't that I couldn't pretend that I was okay either. Sure a few things had slipped and Aoko had pointed some of them out. I could only hope I was keeping more from Hakuba, but I didn't want to keep hiding.
There was a new part of me now that was afraid, paranoid even, that hadn't been there before. When I wasn't around people, late at night most of the time, that side of me came out and I would find myself shaking.
I hated being afraid.
There was nothing I could do about that though. Fear was a basic human emotion and it taught me a lot over the years. You don't want to get yourself hurt. You do not want to get others hurt. You don't let your guard down in the company of someone who may be an enemy, and so on. Fear was a good teacher, you just had to know how to control it. And I would find a way to control it if my emotional state was distressing the people I cared about.
I left the darkness for the noise of the overcrowded room. In the time I was gone, Aoko had calmed down most of the gossip so I got a few nudges instead of headlocks or pats on the back. Nakamori gave me an unyielding look but saw that Aoko made no attempts to either kill me or attach herself to me when I came in the room, so he let me be.
"Kuroba-kun you look even worse than when you left."
"What are you talking about?" I finally had enough of the arrogant detective and took one of the party hats and put it on his face like a duckbill. "You're the one who looks bad. Who wears black to a Christmas party?"
"You don't need to insult my wardrobe anymore. You know perfectly well that I came in a red coat." The detective let out a low sigh, taking off the hat and putting a hand on my head. "Sometimes I forget how fragile you really are."
"Who's fragile?"
"Kidding." Hakuba raised he hands up in defense when I fisted mine. "I was kidding. I thought you were supposed to able to see through deceptions like that one." The undercurrent of tension and worry was clear now that I was listening for it. "Why did my comment get you so riled up? Too close to home, perhaps?"
"Shut up. You said that on purpose." I lowered my hands and let out a sigh. "I'm just a little" – confused? worried? lost? – "tired."
"Tired from what, exactly?"
"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't really sure what was bothering me – a lot of things and nothing at the same time.
"It's better to be an idiot and be happy." Hakuba smacked me on the back of the head and I wasn't able to turn around in time to get him back before he disappeared into the crowd. "Calm yourself down."
Calm myself down? I snuffed at him. I was calm. Worried and confused but calm. I sat down on the floor near the tree where there weren't feet around that would accidentally step on my hands.
Not being the center of attention could be nice sometimes.
I was able to watch my classmates move around the cluttered room, laugh and joke with one another, without having to be a part of it. I didn't feel secluded at all and, looking over at the tree, I started to feel a pang of disappointment for missing most of the festivities last years.
Of course, my phone ringing had to interrupt my mood.
"Hello?" I answered, scarcely able to hear the quiet voice on the other end. The tones were hushed and I couldn't hear them over the noise of the party.
"Hold on a second." I covered the mouthpiece with one of my hands and pushed my way back out into the hall before raising it to my ear again.
"Sorry about that. Who is this?"
"I'm me," the voice panted, trying desperately to speak.
"I take it this isn't a 'Hello, Merry Christmas!' kind of call."
"No." The harshness coming from him made me drop any further humor that I was going to put into our conversation.
"So what happened? You have to have some reason for calling me, especially at a time like this."
"If part of this didn't concern you, I wouldn't be calling. I hope you understand that."
"Crystal."
The voice laughed slightly, making the air a little less heavy. Something was terribly wrong though.
"I was in the plaza about an hour ago. Sonoko wanted to look around Tokyo for Christmas and convinced Ran to go with. While we were out, there was this man." Kudo paused, trying to recall everything. "I don't know who he was; I've never seen him before. He was agitated and pacing around Tokyo Tower where they were holding a large Christmas celebration."
"Yeah, I've been there a few times." Aoko had wanted to do that one Christmas as well. The camera crews that had been filming there had moved to the Tofu Department Store last year because of the manager. "They broadcast live all night."
"Yeah." Kudo took in a breath before continuing. "I don't know what he was trying to do but he started fighting with some of the guests. A few of the guys tried to stop him but they couldn't. Ran wasn't going to let him keep hurting them."
"She's a nice girl."
"Too nice," Kudo sighed. "The man pulled a gun on her."
We were both silent.
"So what did you call me about? " I was almost scared to ask.
"The man didn't kill her, yet." Kudo's hatred was obvious. "I wasn't able to follow him because he might have hurt Ran, but he demanded something in front of the cameras before he vanished into a car, fireing at anyone trying to follow him. I didn't have my skateboard and I have no way to track them."
"Not hard to guess what that was." I put a hand to my forehead and leaned against the wall. "The man didn't happen to have a mustache and black clothing did he?"
"You know him?" There was hope in his voice now. "What's his name? Who is he? Where is he?"
"I know as much about my demons as you do about yours. I have no name to give you." I looked around the hallway to make sure I was alone. "I've got a code name, and I know what he looks like, but that's it."
"Is he one of them?" Kudo asked in a hushed tone.
"No," I answered on impulse before thinking about it. "I don't think so. He's looking for something, him and his group. His name is Snake, and his group runs around in light beige suits, not black. I can't dismiss the chance that they are one in the same, but I've never come across anything to make me think that."
"Good." I could hear the boy on the other end of the phone relax. "I didn't think I'd be able to get her back if it was them."
"No, Snake is crude. I'll help you, and if I can't, we'll figure something else out. Dangling something white and pretty in front of most of them will catch their attention."
"Thank you."
"Why?" I asked, confused. "I haven't even done anything yet."
"Yeah but…" I could tell Kudo wanted to shake his head, "It doesn't matter."
"Where are you?"
"I'm still near Tokyo Tower but we're in a business room across the street."
"We?"
"The police and I."
"Of course." I sighed. "I'll see you there in about -" I paused, thinking about Aoko. "Maybe forty-five minutes. I've got some things I need to finish."
"There's nothing that you're going to find in a half-hour that you won't find in an hour. I've already looked. Take your time," Kudo chuckled darkly. "I'm sure this just ruined your night."
"How right you are. Aoko's going to kill me but I'll find a way out of it."
I closed the phone without saying goodbye.
Aoko really was going to kill me but I had no choice in the matter. If Snake had gotten bold enough to take a hostage to get to me, it meant the man was getting smarter. I'd made him pretty angry last week with that little trick I pulled, and he'd lost one of his men that day to make things worse, even if it was Snake's fault and not mine.
Hakuba opened the door before I was able to step inside.
"We're helping Kudo-kun, right?" the detective smiled at me. "I've already told Aoko-kun that you aren't feeling well and that I'm escorting you back home."
"How did you know?" I asked, amazed.
"When you walked out of the room and didn't come back, I figured something was up. The evening news told me the rest."
"Right," I eyed him. "You're starting to know me too well."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Hakuba asked as we made our way down the hall and he put on his red jacket.
"Yeah, I guess." I smirked. "You do know I was planning to get there with my glider don't you?"
"You brought that thing with you, Kuroba-kun? Why would you have thought that you'd need it?" Hakuba looked at me with skepticism and just a touch of fear.
"I always bring it with me. You never know when you're going to need to run away, especially with Aoko," I whispered under my breath. "She can get really violent sometimes. I like to have a backup plan."
"I doubt that's the reason."
I shrugged.
Once outside I had to cling to my jacket. Without the suit, flying was going to be hazardous because of the temperature.
"Can't we take a cab?" Hakuba pleaded.
"No, too conspicuous. Besides, I'm not going to be there as myself. The cops are already involved."
"Okay then, Natsuki-kun, what's the problem taking a cab there after you disguise yourself?"
I shivered again as the wind pressed up and under my coat and Hakuba shivered as well.
"Fine," I conceded. "You win this time but we're doing it my way next time."
He nodded before getting on his phone and calling a taxi. It was the new white phone the detective had gotten so he could have a laugh at me after his had broken.
"Kuroba-kun?" He asked when he hung up. "Your notice went out the other day, I'm sure you saw the papers. Do you think they're really after you, or after the diamond?"
"The diamond." I looked out into the night without any doubt on that matter. They wanted me, but they wanted me to get the gem, not to kill me. With my notice the police would be everywhere, and Snake's group had no chance of getting past them.
Snake may have acted the way he did because he was afraid that Pandora was about to slip through his fingers.
"Kudo-kun thanked me for helping" I lowered my gaze, "When it's my fault that Snake went after Ran-san."
"It's not your fault and, if you wanted, you could walk away from the situation."
I looked over at Hakuba as he stared into the night with a serious expression.
"I could never do that."
"I know," he smiled. "But it's not your fault that it happened. Announcing that you found Pandora is, and was, the best way of getting their attention."
"So I'm blameless?" I laughed.
"As innocent as a shepherd is to blame for his sheep getting killed at night by a wolf while he slept."
I looked over at him with raised eyebrows. "That's some weird phrasing."
"It is?" He scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I don't know how else to word it."
"Its fine, I understand."
We waited for the cab in the darkness while I made my hair a dark and flashy red. My clothes were harder, but I was able to put padding in my shoes and makeup on my face that made me look ten years older then I really was.
"So what's our story? Two detectives who happened to hear about the case on the news and rushed over on Christmas day to see if we could help?"
"Close enough" I told the detective, ignoring his sarcasm "Except that I'm your cousin, visiting for the holiday, and wanted to see if you really are the hotshot detective you claim to be."
Hakuba laughed.
"That sounds reasonable, I'm sure the officers will have no trouble believing you. So, you're a senior officer from London then?"
"Yep." I took out a fake badge I made a few weeks ago. I'd actually made it as a joke or something to use against Hakuba, to tease him at a heist if I showed up disguised. Everything came in handy eventually.
"You really do prepare of everything, don't you?"
...
...
A few things to note:
First, I know nothing about what Tokyo does for Christmas. I've made that all up.
Second, if you were wondering what kind of flower that Aoko gave Kaito, it's a "Chiffon Blue Hibiscus Rose of Sharon"
Yeah, long name. I thought of what a flower would look like if I mixed both their similarities together and found this one.
It's actually really pretty.
