DISCLAIMER: Magic Kaito is the respective creation and property of Gosho Aoyama.
AUTHOR: Melpomene-the-Tragic-Parody
MAIN CHARACTERS: Kaito Kuroba, Aoko Nakamori
CHAPTER: #2
TITLE: Heavy In Your Arms
INSPIRED BY: ~ Heavy In Your Arms, by Florence and the Machine ~
~M.K~
It had been one thing after another when Aoko discovered that Kaito was the gentleman thief known as Kaitou Kid. The anger he could deal with; that impending dread that her father would show up on his doorstep with an army of Task Force officers to imprison him; or even the idea that she could snip him out of her life forever.
That latter had come insanely close.
The army never came but Kaito hadn't been willing to take the risk and had whizzed off to stay with Jii. It wasn't as though Aoko had any physical proof anyway. He worked in the bar for the hell of it and helped Jii research any possible jewels that could withhold the elusive Pandora. No phone calls. No emails. No texts. His mother checked in regularly, worried when she heard that he and Aoko had stopped talking. The revelation never ended up in the newspaper, and every encounter he had with Inspector Nakamori made it obviously clear he didn't even know. While it was a relief to accept, it also left him with a heavy heart.
Aoko had gone back to university without a word.
Kaito never let on how much that tormented him.
Four heists had passed before he saw her again, in the most unlikely of places: on the roof of the museum to his latest heist in Osaka. Her father had almost given him a real run, having called in with that Detective of the West for assistance under the ill and absent Kid Killer's recommendation. But to find her here on the roof, alone before her father's arrival, Kaito's entire being had been electrified with alarm and suspicion. There was little time to question her motives for confronting him.
"Good evening, Nakamori-san," he had said courteously, concealing his shock and quietly skirting around her to the shadows. "It's quite an honor to make your acquaintance. However, I fear I am unable to entertain you tonight." He pinched the brim of his top hat. "Or have you arrived to arrest me yourself?"
The disbelieving expression on her face had been unmistakable. She had been hurt by his words. It had slowly dawned on him that he had spoken to her as Kid, charming, aloof, and entirely impersonal. As though they had never been best friends.
"I should," she said forcefully, her hands balled at her sides. "You'd deserve it!"
Kaito ignored the harrowing clench around his heart and laughed softly. It only served to make her angrier.
"Then I suppose our meeting has come to an end," he said, unwilling to tear his eyes away from her shaking form. He took his signature bow and prepared to jump from the ledge. "I would hate to distress you unnecessarily."
Was he that much of a masochist that he would beg for death so carelessly? The distance between them was short, and the moonlight illuminated her features so vividly that his breath shortened. Her hair was tucked into a messy bun, and there was something in her eyes that told him she wasn't sleeping properly. Was it too much to hope that it was her university life that did it, and not worrying about and hating him?
"So that's it? You're just going to walk away?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Fly," he corrected her.
Aoko huffed disbelievingly. "Don't be such an ass, Kaito!" she snapped. "You're always like this, acting as if nothing fazes you! Am I really that much of a joke to you?"
Kaito didn't answer her.
"Don't act like you're some cool guy!" she continued. "You're a thief and a liar and you just—" She stomped her foot in frustration. "—you just disappeared! You disappeared and I couldn't find you anywhere!"
His voice caught in his throat. Frozen on the ledge, the phantom thief was a vision of composure. Beneath the surface, he had found himself on the verge of being swept into a hurricane.
"I wasn't under the impression that you were looking for me, Nakamori-san," he said, shielded by his alter ego's protection. "Perhaps your time would be more wisely spent away from such a chanceful venue."
Aoko's lip trembled. "Kaito, stop that."
"I fear I do not under—" he continued, only to be interrupted her dry sob.
"God, Kaito, it's me!" she exclaimed, full of emotion. "I'm not my father! I'm not an officer! I'm not even one of your fangirls! It's me! Don't talk to me like some random person you just happened to meet!"
Kaito lips parted as his steady heartbeat betrayed him. So ablaze with passion, it was impossible to ignore the effect she had on him. They could have been anywhere, and that fire would drive his senses wild. It was the flip side he could never predict; would he be peeved or spellbound?
"I just… I need to know why."
Kaito felt as though, wherever she was right now, Akako had just stabbed him in the chest with a magical blade. The last thing he wanted to see was the image of Aoko crying. Like an anchor, it weighed him down to her side in seconds. At the risk of being caught by her father, he stood there, a silk handkerchief coming into existence in his hands.
"Go home, Aoko," he said, placing it in her hands. "There's nothing more to say."
Her jaw set bitterly. Without hesitation, one of her fists collided with his chest. Kaito winced as she grabbed a fistful of his jacket and stared up at his shadowy face, half-concealed by the brim of his top hat. He should have moved, run away, jumped off that roof and be done with her. Instead, he stood there, hopelessly watching the tears cascade from her beautiful, infuriated cerulean eyes.
"Kid has stolen countless, priceless gems! My father's time and effort! He even stole the love of the Japanese people! Against their own law enforcement! Now he's stolen my best friend, and he won't even tell me why!"
'Poker face,' Kaito reminded himself urgently. 'Don't forget your poker face.'
Because he had never felt so powerless.
How could he tell her about his search for Pandora without risking her life? This wasn't like his parents! His mother had been a thief long before his father; they had both known the risks better than anyone. Aoko lived in a world where the Organization didn't exist, where she went to university and lived an ordinary life. To drag her into the fray would only cause more harm than good. That sort of secrecy would only weigh her down from living her life to the fullest.
He could never attach himself to her that way. It was more than selfish. It was suicidal.
"I'm afraid that is need-to-know," he said. "And you don't need to know."
He narrowly swerved to avoid the slap in the face that came his way as a result. It was the perfect opportunity to leap back into the ledge, but too late to check for Pandora in his latest haul, a jewel known as Lady's Wonder. The time needed for his exit strategy had narrowed to a dicey minimum.
But it hadn't occurred to him how far Aoko would go to get his attention.
A swift movement from the corner of his eye turned his focus back to Aoko and he felt his heart stop. Merely feet away from him, balanced on wobbly legs, was his best friend on the ledge with him.
"Ahoko, what are you doing?" he demanded, dropping all pretense at her daring.
"Neither of us is leaving without an answer!" she snapped at him, brushing the tears from her face. "You owe me that, you idiot! Why the hell are you Kid, Kaito?!"
He didn't even have the chance to utter a word of reproval when the door to the roof banged open and a stream of Task Force officers poured out with Inspector Nakamori in his energetic flow, that Heiji Hattori right beside him.
Taken aback by their sudden arrival, the two stared in shock as the inspector stumbled to an incredulous halt at the sight of his own daughter standing beside his arch-rival in an extremely precarious place.
"A-A-AOKO?" he yelled disbelievingly. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?"
"Tou-san?" Aoko exclaimed, turning too quickly at the sound of his voice and stumbling on the ledge. With a scream of alarm, Aoko lost her balance and toppled off the side of the building.
His body had gone numb the moment she disappeared from his side. Lost to the sound of the inspector's screams, his legs shot forward as he dove off the ledge and plummeted after her. His entire world had been caught in flames as he willed himself to go faster, closing in on her in seconds and wrapping his arms around her screaming form.
"Hold on!" he cried out, pulling her close to his body and releasing his hang glider from his cape. Aoko yelped as they abruptly swerved with the flow of the wind, out of harm's way and into the night.
"Are you alright?" he demanded, taking a moment to inspect her pallid face. Up close, the circles beneath her fear-filled eyes were prominent. "Aoko, look at me!"
She did more than that. She buried her face into his neck, the warmth of her breath tickling his skin. Her arms had clawed onto him in a desperate hold, shaking so violently that he worried she would faint. He had to get her to the ground as quickly as possible.
Kaito's knowledge of Osaka was limited, but he found himself landing in a deserted park he knew near a trickling stream, cradling the terrified girl in his arms. Perhaps they were both shaking harder than words could describe. Without hesitation, he collapsed on the grass, pulling her onto his lap and holding her as she sobbed, whispering her name into her hair and stroking her back.
"What were you thinking, you silly girl?" he muttered breathlessly, all feeling lost in the blood pulsing through his veins.
Aoko was the one who couldn't answer, and Kaito refused to leave her alone. Entangled in an unmoving heap, they remained together, oblivious to the worries of the world. His cape wrapped them in a cocoon of warmth, engulfing them in each others' scents, the mildness of smoke and roses, and the gentle wisp of lavender.
"I can't lose you, too."
Her words were so soft he almost never heard them. Aoko's eyes were closed, and the side of her face was buried in his chest. Could she hear his frantic heartbeats? Did she know the blinding fear that had pounded through him at the thought of anything terrible happening to her? Did she know that those words were unspoken on his lips as well?
Why was it that the men behind Kaitou Kid always fell in love with headstrong women?
A skilled lady thief and a feisty inspector's daughter. Kuroba magicians had quite the taste. If his father were here, Kaito would ask him what to do about this reckless girl.
But he wasn't. He was gone, by the Organization's hand, and the only way to avenge him was to find and destroy Pandora. Moving carefully as not to disturb her, Kaito retrieved his stolen gem from his pocket and raised the jewel to the moon above.
It glistened beautifully but Lady's Wonder, to no surprise, did not contain Pandora. Not that he cared to hope that it did. His concern was taking Aoko to the hospital. He lowered his hand to tuck the jewel in his pocket, only for Aoko's feeble grip to latch around his wrist and hold him close.
"What are you doing?" she asked weakly, confusion showing clearly in her sleep-deprived eyes. "Why—were you looking at it—like that?"
Kaito sighed to himself. With quick, diligent hands, he removed his cape and shrouded them both, blinding Aoko long enough to remove his garments in favor of plain clothes. Aoko blinked in surprise to see that 'Kid' had disappeared, leaving only Kaito Kuroba in his place. She remained in his lap, watching the only evidence to Kaito's deed: the Lady's Wonder in his hand.
"Aoko, you could have died," he said seriously, almost desperately for her to see the bigger picture. "Regardless of how much you hate me, I won't let that happen to you. If I tell you the truth, I'll lose you. Do you understand that?"
Sniffling, Aoko grabbed onto Kaito's shoulders. "That's my decision to make, Kaito, not yours! I won't stay in the dark if you leave me there. Then you really will lose me."
"I know."
Kaito eyes refused to meet hers. If he was going to burn, he might as well hammer the coffin for the flames. Let her scream at him or slap him, he knew he would survive it. He wouldn't survive being the one to see her name on a tombstone or watch what was left of her burn to ash.
Maybe his poker face had cracked. For the first time that night, she saw right through him.
Aoko awkwardly shifted in his lap, reaching her soft hands to the sides of his face. Kaito was helpless to resist her pull as their eyes found one another; his, a shield to the chaos in his heart, and hers, an open book of resolve. Kaito's words were lost as her lips pressed against his, pulling him forward and clumsily kissing him with every fiber of her being.
It was all it took for her to do the one thing his female audiences desired.
To steal his heart.
~M.K~
FURTHER NOTES:
My angst factor may not have eased up since the first chapter, but hey, at least their both alive, right?
Reviews and criticisms are welcome.
—MELPOMENE-THE-TRAGIC-PARODY, signing out.
