Aoko hesitated a long while before using the spare key to open Kaito's door and walk in. "He promised to tell me all tonight and I'm holding him to it!" she thought as she went through the door, closed and locked it. When she turned around, there was Kaito standing in the hallway in his KID costume. He went to stand beside her handing her the monocle and putting his hat on her head as he took her other hand to escort her to his room. They walked in silence, Aoko trembling a little. He sat her down on his bed. He took the chair, swishing his cape so that the back of his chair was between his cape and his back. "I suppose I have to start at the beginning. My father, Touichi Kuroba, was the original KID. While he was going about stealing priceless jewels and giving your father and a mystery novelist by the name of Yusaku Kudo a hard time with his riddles and heists, he had a run in with an organization whose boss wanted eternal life. He hired people to steal gems from around the world looking for one called the Pandora Jewel. This jewel has a second one inside of it that glows red in the moonlight and when this comet streak across the moon while the jewel is held up to it, the second one will come out and grant whoever drinks the jewel eternal life. This organization found out who he was when he wasn't KID and threatened him. When my dad heard that his choices were to help them or bad things would happen to him, he told them that he would never help them. A few days later, they murdered him by setting the theater where he was performing on fire. They were clever in that they made it look like an accident. The police at that time said that a frayed wire was accidentally laid over a pile of paper and that a spark from the wire caused the accident. Eight years later, my dad's assistant who I call Jii-chan donned the identity of KID to find out why my dad died and who killed him because he was certain that my dad was murdered. That was when the Moon's Pupil was stolen. The day after KID came back, I was talking with my dad like I always do before doing home work. I decided to put my hand on the picture," At this point, Kaito rose and put his hand on his father's picture to demonstrate what had happened, " and then leaned on it. A lock that was set to disengage finally did after eight years and the picture swung in, knocking me off balance. I fell into this secret room and saw a car and tape recorder. Apparently, my dad left that as a way to tell me who he really was but the tape was so old, it no longer worked properly. When I pressed a button on the tape machine, these mirrors swung out to reveal my father's old KID costume. When KID made the note to steal the Moon's Pupil, I had already put together who my dad had been and wanted to confront KID to unmask him and see my dad again. To surprise him and force him to confess, I wore the KID costume that was down there and lay in wait for him. When I saw KID, he was shocked but kept his cool. He did his body disappearing trick and I saw through it. When I did, Jii-chan mistook me for my father and called me Master Touichi and told me his plan to don my father's alter ego of KID to lure out my father's murderers." Kaito chuckled a bit at that memory.
"So what happened after that?" Aoko asked him, saying her first real sentence to him since last night.
"I told Jii-chan to run away and that I'd be KID from that point on."
"Have you located his killers yet?"
"Yes. In fact, they were the ones that made me miss your birthday party, Aoko. I thought that the Blue Birthday heist was going to be a piece of cake with ice cream, so to speak, but the organization showed up. It was then that I learned their true goal of eternal life. I was furious. I thought to myself, 'So in your quest for life, you took my father's? Bastards!' I told them that I would find the Pandora Jewel and destroy it. Ever since then, I've only gone after fairly large gems and returned them since none were the Pandora Jewel. I've had a few run-ins with them after that. I know that at every heist, there's a great risk of me not being alive at the end of the heist because of them. I always think to myself, 'It would suck if Aoko found out who I really am because both KID and Kuroba died on the same day.' But I muscle through and put on my poker face to keep my sanity while on a heist."
"So, both Saguru and Akako are right?"
"Yes, but please don't tell them. The detective actor would arrest me and the bitch who calls herself a witch would enslave me like she has done to all the other boys at school."
Aoko laughed at the accurate descriptions of the two people and said, "I won't even tell my dad. Even though I feel certain that the police could help take them down, you're too caught in a web of deception to untangle yourself."
They sat staring at each other for a good ten minutes until Aoko broke the silence by asking this question, "Would you like an assistant? Maybe I could get you in as yourself more often if I asked my dad if I could come too. I'll even play my part of KID hater so he doesn't become suspicious of you."
"You'd risk having your dad's trust just to help me? Aoko, I...I don't know what to say. It doesn't feel right."
"Does stealing ever feel right to you?"
"Well, no. But this is my fight. I really only ever wanted you to know who I am."
"And now that I doe, I want to help you. Listen, for eight going on to nine years now, I've always wanted to help you. Now that I know how to, let me, please."
"Aoko, thank you." He went over to hug her and let the pent up tears of almost nine years fall on her shoulder.
