Chapter 3 – Discussing

Like Shinichi had told Katsu, he had to think about the boy's request before he took it on board. And due to him still being in the process of getting used to his new body, Shinichi would need to do a lot until he was ready for playing in a soccer match.

And so, the detective, after thinking it over for a while, decided that maybe, this might help him. It would be good to do something a little grand before leaving school.

When Shinichi accepted the offer, Katsu was already introducing him to the rest of the soccer team. Some of the players, Shinichi knew from his years of playing soccer in middle school and the beginning of high school. Some were new players that must have joined the team during Shinichi's time of "working hard on a difficult case."

He had practised a lot in and out of school, whilst getting to know the team properly. All the training that he was doing had brought him back to all the games that he had played when he was younger, also reminding him of all the nights of when he would send a killer-speeding soccer ball at a certain criminal's head.

It had reached the day before the big game, and Shinichi had to admit - only to himself - that he was slightly nervous. He hadn't played in a game for a long time and so this was a first-time-in-ages experience.

His classmates had given him and his team mates the courage and the encouragement for their last final game. The encouragement helped him, but he was still replaying Haibara's warning in his mind, about him being careful and actually taking care of himself. He also shouldn't overwork himself, but this game might do just that.

So just like Shinichi had said. He would think about Katsu's offer on playing for Teitan High's soccer team, and he did. Going back to school was relieving as he was getting that feel of a normal life again, instead of missing out on everything that was going on.

When Shinichi had walked into his classroom on that Monday, he was greeted with wide eyes of surprise, happy smiles, high fives and hugs. It was not what he was expecting to come back to, but being a well-liked person and disappearing for nearly two years, he was surprised to get bombarded with many 'welcome backs'.

His first morning back was all right. He was getting used to the idea of being back at school and being back in his body to really think about anything else. Well, there was another thing that his mind was occupied on, but he had to work hard on pushing that to the back of his mind.

The soccer team members, who were in his class, gathered around his desk at break that day and asked if he could play on their team. Being the Teitan High's ex-soccer team captain earned him that privilege of playing their last game before they break up from school in a few weeks' time. "So, Nakamora wasn't the only one, huh?" He had questioned in his mind, seeing the pleading looks of people he remembered from being on his soccer team during his younger years of high school.

He had given it enough thought and accepted their offer, which happened to bring them over the moon with joy. That too had been surprising.

So that lead him to now. Shinichi was in Ekoda, in the boys' changing room of where he and his team mates were preparing themselves for their last big game before school ended. Ekoda High School's soccer team were their opposing team, and it was quite interesting because Teitan High had never played against this school before. Shinichi just shrugged, pulling his soccer uniform T-shirt over his head. When he was in his uniform completely - T-shirt, shorts and socks - Shinichi could see that they were made especially for their team, representing them with Teitan High's colours. Blue, white and green. The shirt consisting more of the colour white, with pale blue stripes going horizontal. The shorts were pale blue with green lines on each side. A big number '21' was plastered on the back of his shirt in green. His socks also being a pale blue.

Taking a seat on the bench in front of his locker, he bent down to put on his shoes. As he was finishing tying the last one, a tap on his shoulder called for his attention. Tucking in his laces, Shinichi looked up to meet the face of Katsu. He smiled to him. "Hey, Nakamora-kun."

Katsu's smile grew as he took a place beside Shinichi on the bench. He turned to face the detective. "Thank you for playing for us today Kudo-kun, we all really appreciate it."

Shinichi shook his head, "No. Thank you for inviting me to play." Shinichi laughed breathlessly as he reached to scratch the back of his head, almost nervously. "Although, I can't promise that we will win with me on the team as I haven't played for a long time," he half-lied.

It was Katsu's turn to shake his head. "Once a soccer player, always a soccer player."

Eyes wandering, Shinichi considered the thought, nodding in understanding to the statement. Even after Shinichi had quit being a soccer player, he still kept the skill for a bullseye shot and all of the other skills needed. Hence why he had asked the professor to make him extra powered kicking shoes and a ball-disposing belt, so he had never really left the sport, he just didn't play with a team.

Going back to the conversation with Katsu, Shinichi gave another nod before answering him, "Yeah. I guess that makes sense."

It was at that moment that the booster speakers called out a welcome to the crowd and was ready to announce the schools which were going to be playing today's game. The boys from Teitan High met up with their cheerleaders, who were waiting to give their cheering routine when their school was called, before the players themselves walked onto the freshly cut and marked grass playing field.

After a few moments of waiting, the booster speakers sounded again, calling out Teitan High school.

At the entrance of their side of the stadium, the captain of Teitan High School's soccer team Tsukanai Nao, who was stood beside Shinichi, inhaled a deep breath. "This is it," were the only words he said before their team ran onto the field, bringing back to life the cheering from their side of the stadium.

When Shinichi was on the field, he decided to scan the people who were sitting on the rows of seats on the Teitan High School's side of the stadium, coming across Ran and Sonoko, who were sitting in one of the middle rows. Ran's eyes met his and she waved, the same as Sonoko when she had spotted Shinichi. Shinichi gave them a small wave in return.

Ran suddenly began blowing kisses in his direction, which confused Shinichi, until he turned around in time to see Katsu blowing a kiss back. Shinichi just laughed to himself and at himself, "I'm such an idiot."

He turned his attention to the opposing team's side of supporters, and scanned through them until his eyes landed on a girl who, in his opinion, looked bored and didn't want to be there. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she was slouched low in her seat. The girl beside her however was smiling brightly and suddenly looked annoyed when she looked to the bored girl.

Shinichi looked for a couple more seconds and was about to look away before the slouching girl met his eyes and her eyes widened, her expression instantly turning from bored to alert and surprise. The split-second change in the girl's expression startled Shinichi slightly, not expecting it. He suddenly realised why when his mind clicked and he knew the reason for both his own alarm and the girl's. The girl proved his theory right when she quickly snapped her attention to somewhere else on the opposite side of the stadium.

Shinichi just smiled knowingly.

...

The final score of the soccer game was 3-2 to Beika's team from Teitan High School. Ekoda's team were, presumably, annoyed and upset about their loss, as well as many of the people cheering for them.

Some were there to support their loved ones and friends, some were just there to see the match between two teams, (those being lovers of soccer, but not having the time or courage to play and join the team) and some were just there because they felt like they had been brought there without actually wanting to be.

Two girls exited the stadium seats, merging into the leaving crowd. The smaller girl was talking about how the game was interesting and how close Ekoda were to winning, whilst the slightly taller one with long chocolate wild hair was listening with her hands laced behind her head.

"It was a great game though," the smaller girl started. "We still had two goals which is definitely something."

The other girl hummed in acknowledgement, her expression was void of emotion and she looked bored.

The smaller girl sighed, turning dark violet eyes to the slightly taller girl beside her. "Geez, why are you so grumpy?"

The other girl moved nothing but her indigo eyes, glancing towards her friend. "I'm not grumpy, Aoko. I just... don't hold that much interest like you do."

The smaller girl, Aoko, looked to her as if she had something she didn't understand. "Kaiya, seriously, there's something up with you and you won't tell me. Don't you trust me?"

The indigo eyed girl, Kaiya, laughed. "Yes, I trust you, but there's nothing wrong. Honestly, there isn't."

Aoko stopped but Kaiya kept walking, not realising that her friend had stopped until she was a little distance away. Kaiya paused in her steps and dropped her hands from behind her head, "Aoko, are you alright?"

Aoko sighed again, "Okay, so if you're okay, then who did you see that got you all anxious and fidgety in your seat."

Kaiya's eyes widened as she turned to fully face her friend, people moving around them to actually keep going towards the stadium exit. "Oh that, I thought I saw someone I recognised. But it turned out to be someone else."

Aoko glared to her, knowing that her best friend wasn't telling her the truth but she knew that she wouldn't get it out of the girl, so she decided to move on. "Okay, fine, whatever, just remember that I'm always here for you if you ever need to talk about something."

Kaiya's smile was soft when she looked to her, "As I too will be there for you if you ever need me to be."

Aoko returned her smile, "So, we're even?"

Kaiya rolled her eyes but her smile never faded as she nodded to her, "Yeah, I guess we're even."

Aoko released a mocking breath, knowing that she didn't have to. "Thank goodness for that."

Kaiya scowled to her, "Now you're just being dramatic," she huffed, moving back into step with Aoko as they began walking towards the exit again.

Aoko smirked as she flipped some of her hair back, "Uh, excuse me, but if anyone is the drama queen here, that would be you."

Kaiya scoffed, puffing out her cheeks. "I beg to differ."

After Aoko had gone to the toilet, her and Kaiya continued walking towards the exit, minding the other people and trying not to get suffocated from the large crowd. Their long journey, well it seemed like a journey judging by how long it took them to get out of the stampede, came to a subtle end when they noticed a small girl with glasses and mousy brown hair tied into two identical ponytails, one each side of her head standing to the side of the crowd.

Aoko smiled brightly to her and waved enthusiastically, "Keiko!"

Hearing the call of Aoko's voice, the spectacled girl turned to her and smiled, waving back. "Hey!" She called back.

When Aoko and Kaiya finally managed to get out of the group and stand with Keiko, Aoko looked to Keiko apologetically. "Sorry that we took so long, the crowd was immense."

Keiko smiled sweetly, nodding. "I know, I could see it from the field."

Kaiya smirked to her, "Nice moves, by the way."

Aoko's face brightened. "I know, you were amazing!"

Keiko's face had grown warm to the comments, "T-Thank you, though I thought that I messed up that second to last back flip," she confessed shyly.

Aoko looked to Kaiya, as if expecting her to answer. After a moment, Kaiya looked to her confused, raising a careful eyebrow. "What?"

Aoko gestured towards Keiko, "Do you think Keiko messed up her last back flip?"

"S-Second to last back flip," Keiko corrected nervously.

"Second to last back flip? Thanks Keiko," Aoko added quickly but casually, as if she didn't make the mistake in the first place.

Kaiya looked to Aoko, gazed towards Keiko and then back to Aoko, "Why are you asking me?"

Aoko huffed out a breath, "Because you are great when it comes to acrobatics and somersaults and the like, so you would know if someone had messed up a move or not."

Kaiya was slightly puzzled, but smiled to her best friend anyway, "Ah, I see how it is. That's very sweet of you." She then locked her large indigo eyes with Keiko's dark green. "You were fine all the way through your way routine, but I think you needed just a tad bit more confidence with those last three somersaults."

Keiko sighed but was still smiling, "I was kind of nervous for this game."

Aoko placed her hands onto Keiko's shoulders, making the spectacled girl look to her and meet her dark violet eyes. "You had every right to be nervous. After all, it was Ekoda's last soccer game. Well, the third year's last game. And that also included the third year cheerleaders, so don't worry, you were great out there."

Keiko smiled again, wider this time, and Kaiya could see the pressure falling off her shoulders. "I'm so glad."

There was a moment of Aoko smiling with Keiko, before she quickly gasped and looked down at herself.

Keiko suddenly looked concerned. Leaning forward, she asked, "Aoko, what's wrong?"

"I haven't got my bag," she answered without looking to the mousy haired girl. "I think I might have left it at our seats."

Kaiya shook her head, "No, you had it around your shoulders when we were leaving the seats. I remember, because you got the long strap caught on one of the arms of the chairs."

Aoko covered her mouth to hold back another gasp, dark violet eyes glancing over towards the never ending crowd of people exiting the stadium. "I think I left it in the toilets, and tried to hurry so we could try and get out of the crowd."

Kaiya followed her gaze to look behind herself, the crowd didn't seem to be ending. There were way too many people hunched together and due to how many people had come to see the game, it was an extremely slow process of getting out of the doors.

"Aoko would barely make it out of that without getting crushed," Kaiya thought to herself, before sighing hard. Closing her eyes, Kaiya stuffed her hands into her pockets before looking at Aoko and Keiko over her shoulder. "I'll go and get your bag. You two, stay here. Although, I may be a while."

When Aoko stepped forward and opened her mouth to protest, Kaiya had already disappeared into the crowd and was making her way through the people, not bothering with the hundreds of "excuse me'" that she would have said, but she knew that it would be utterly pointless to do so.

Kaiya felt like a ping pong ball, being pushed and bumped from side to side and it was kind of making her feel a bit nauseous. Deciding that it was best to move against the wall, Kaiya changed her direction and cut through the group of people on her left to get to the side of the crowd.

After accidently getting elbowed in the head when she decided to duck down and scurry through the crowd, Kaiya finally made it to the side of the crowd and pressed her back against the wall, side stepping to go the opposite way of where the crowd was headed. She felt the weird looks of some of the people who took the time to notice but she paid them no mind.

Finally, after what felt like a millennium, Kaiya made it to the toilets. All the cubicles were empty, and so Kaiya checked the small hooks on each of the doors. When Aoko's bag wasn't on any of the hooks, Kaiya looked around the rest of the toilets. Her eyes caught the sight of a small dark maroon shoulder bag sitting on the furthest counter next to the furthest sink.

"There you are," she mumbled, feeling a bit relieved that her journey hadn't been a waste of time.

Walking over to the bag, Kaiya opened it and looked to see if anything was missing. Aoko's phone was still in there, so was her door keys and her purse. Reaching into the bag, Kaiya pulled out the purse to make sure that all of Aoko's cards were still in there. Everything was there.

"That's a relief," she thought as she placed the purse back in the bag and closed it. Clutching it tightly in her hand, so not to risk losing it once she had just found the bag, Kaiya made a move to exit the toilets. Getting out of the toilets, she took one glance at the exiting crowd and sighed, sagging her shoulders. "Oh, boy," she muttered under her breath, not even bothering to try and find the energy to crawl through that large crowd.

And so, with nothing better to do, Kaiya decided to wait it out until she could at least see the other wall. The sweet scent of pineapple infiltrated her nostrils, drawing her attention to the right of her. Next to the toilets, an arrow was pointing towards a corridor. Above the arrow was the label of "Shower Rooms," giving the reason for the scent and the echo of warmth from the steam that had travelled though the corridor and towards the toilets.

"Wow, whoever uses pineapple scented products smells delicious," she mused silently to herself, and then, without warning flushed slightly to what she had just thought. "Okay, that was kind of creepy."

"I've probably witnessed creepier," spoke a voice from the right of her.

Kaiya's instinct instantly kicked in as she resisted the urge to jump at the sound of the voice. Instead, Kaiya turned slowly to only feel her heart stop right there and then due to who was standing there.

Standing only a little distance away was a damp haired and freshly showered Kudo Shinichi. He was dressed in his casual attire, his dirty soccer uniform most probably in the navy blue duffle bag that was slung over his shoulder. He was looking at Kaiya with soft azure eyes, his lips curved slightly into an almost smile.

Kaiya opened her mouth to speak, question, breathe, whatever she could manage. And the only thing that came out was a harsh cough.

Shinichi's expression turned concerned as he stepped closer to her, "Are you, all right?" He asked, voice filled with concern.

After choking on absolutely nothing, Kaiya waved him off, her eyebrows were drawn together slightly as if to play it off as nothing at all, "Yeah, I'm fine." Finally clearing her throat and being able to breathe properly again, Kaiya looked to him, "Sorry about that, you kind of... scared me."

Shinichi's eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs as he stepped closer, looking ready to apologise. "I'm the one that should be saying sorry, I didn't really give a warning." He adjusted his bag strap before glancing over towards the slow crowd. "I'm guessing that you're waiting until that filters out a bit."

Kaiya turned to observe the crowd, seeing that it had emptied out a tiny bit. She sighed, "Yeah, I don't really fancy getting elbowed in the head again."

Shinichi turned his gaze back to her, "You got elbowed in the head?" When Kaiya looked to him, she nodded. "I'm guessing you had to get closer to the ground to get through them, and then I'm guessing you gained the elbow to the head when you tried to stand upright," Shinichi continued, locking bright azure eyes with sparkling indigo eyes.

Kaiya wasn't surprised, due to her knowing who he was and how he earned his title of Great Detective of the East. She was just shocked that he managed to figure that out with the only hint of her getting elbowed in the head. And especially in the way that she had done it.

She must have forgotten to put up her poker face because Shinichi was smirking knowingly to her response. "I'm also guessing that I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" He remarked casually, taking a step closer to her.

Kaiya could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest, worried for herself that she might have a heart attack. Swallowing the lump of nervousness lodged in her throat, Kaiya managed to disguise her nervousness as shyness by reaching up to scratch the back of her head and smiled sheepishly to the detective. "I suppose it was quite obvious then, huh?"

She could only hope that the shy, adorable and timid girl act would work. She couldn't risk him finding out who she was otherwise she would be in a lot of-

"'Obvious' isn't the word that I would use," Shinichi cut through her thoughts. "Normally, any ordinary person would go through the middle of the crowd, saying 'excuse me' multiple times as that it is where the biggest gap can be made. But, from what I saw, you used tactic and decided to defy against the crowd and save time by going against the sides." His lips curved into a dangerous smirk as he added, "Only someone who is used to sneaking around and purposefully mingle in with the crowd would go that way."

"I also noticed how you were watching me during the game," Shinichi stated only a moment later, changing the subject with his soft masculine voice remaining the same.

Kaiya's eyes widened to hearing that. She felt a little uncomfortable with how close he was compared to when he first spoke, so she half consciously stepped back, her foot bumping into the wall behind her. Kaiya flinched to the feeling of being trapped under the detective's gaze, as if he could see into her heart and soul and know almost anything and everything about her.

Even though she wanted to voice her thoughts, Kaiya remained silent so that Shinichi could continue. "When I first saw you looking at me, it was before the game even began and you turned away instantly. And so, at first, I thought nothing of it. But then, I saw you looking at me a few more times and so I grew curious as to why." He took one more step closer, Kaiya moving further away and feeling the cold wall press up against her back, and ducked his head slightly as if trying to compose himself. "But... I already knew the reason as to why you were looking at me since the first time I caught you staring."

"And h-how would y-you know that?" She wanted to slap herself for stuttering.

"Because I know the reason just like how I know the reason as to why I was continuously staring at you during the game."

Kaiya wanted to look away, but her eyes were glued onto the detective's in front of her. She barely even noticed as the detective took one final step forward and reached an arm up to place it against the wall beside her head, boxing her against the wall and close to him.

The only thing on Kaiya's mind was the words that he had previously said, "Don't tell me..." she silently pleaded.

Shinichi brought his face closer to hers, "It surprised me to know who you truly are and how you managed to fool everyone so well, for so long."

When Kaiya didn't respond, Shinichi moved just the slightest bit closer to her, not enough that they were touching but close enough for them to feel the other's body heat on their own skin. It took everything in Shinichi for him to fight down his blush. It didn't help with the sweet scent of apple filling his nostrils, the smell emanating from the girl in front of him. As much as he wanted to complement the scent, Shinichi knew that it was better not to creep her out.

"But I will have to admit that I was definitely surprised to see the infamous Kaitou Kid sitting in the stadium audience," Shinichi admitted.

Kaiya's blood instantly ran cold, chilling her to her core. The colour drained from her skin as she went into a mental panic. She needed to pull herself together, keep her mindset steady - well as steady as she could manage at that current moment.

Before she could even conjure a coherent thought, Shinichi spoke up again, breaking through her track of thought.

"Also... I was amazed to see that Kid-kun is actually... a Kid-chan." It was at that moment when time seemed to come to an ultimate stand still, a harsh tension suddenly growing between them.

Half a minute passed before either of them moved or seemed to begin breathing again. Oxygen is a key thing to survival after all.

Realising that she was backed into a corner with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide, Kaiya let her head drop, the movement was accompanied by her shoulders sagging as well. "So," she muttered solemnly. "How long do I have?"

That broke Shinichi's smirk into a frown, followed by his eyebrows raising slightly to show his evident confusion. "What do you mean?"

When Kaiya answered, she didn't lift her head up. She didn't feel the need to. "How long do I have until I need to leave the country, Meitantei?" There was no point in denying anything when he had her cornered like the way he had at that moment.

Shinichi, realising what he made it seem like, held back a sigh. He took a step back and removed his arm from the wall, placing his hands in his pockets. "Well, if I have anything to do with it, never," he responded softly, hoping to reassure her.

Kaiya's eyebrows came together as she slowly looked up to show him the confusion that was now blatantly showing across her facial features, making her meet his soft azure eyes and small reassuring smile. "Wha..."

"I'm not going to turn you in," he reassured her, though he could tell that she was not persuaded.

Kaiya had to blink a couple of times in order to get her head around what the detective before her had just said, but was still confused. "But, I'm a... and you, you're a... isn't that what you're here for... why?"

Shinichi was finding the look of utter confusion on Kaiya's face absolutely adorable. "There are many reasons for me not to. You're not that bad of a criminal. And I think you've probably done more good than you have harm, not to mention that you have also put your life on the line to make sure that everyone around you is safe and unharmed. You are a good person, there is no way I could deny that."

His eyes drifted away slightly as a subtle rose colour blossomed upon the apples of his cheeks, "And besides, I don't think I ever want to see Kid put behind bars. As surprising as this may be, I actually enjoy your company. I enjoy the thrill of the chase and I enjoy the continuous games that we play, it's fun." Shinichi looked around, making sure that no one was near them before continuing. "Your heists are actually my breaks from the world of murder. It's always safe and no one gets hurt, so I can relax. It's my safe haven, in a way."

It was silent between them again, the murmuring sound of the exiting crowd being the only thing to be heard.

When Shinichi looked back to Kaiya, her face had inflamed as she just stared back at him with wide eyes. He waited for a while, waiting for her to say something. When she didn't, he smiled softly before stepping closer to her. Shinichi watched as her eyes followed his, not breaking eye contact once.

"I wanted to meet you, you in person," Shinichi began, looking straight into her sparkling indigo eyes. "I enjoy Kid's company, but I wanted to get to know who Kid was behind the monocle. I would like to enjoy your company as an individual and for who you truly are." Shinichi was surprised that he was still managing to keep his cool, as his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest due to how nervous he actually was. "What the hell? I've asked a lot of her and what do I expect? Her to just say yes and tell me-"

"Okay, how about your own personal encounter, Meitantei?" Kaiya asked, breaking the detective out of his mental panic. When he concentrated on her again, he noticed that her cheeks were still red but her lips had curved into an all too familiar Kid smirk, the very smirk that would frighten most of the police force members.

Curving his lips into a smirk of his own, he reached down to grasp her hand, which wasn't holding the bag, and brought it up to place a soft kiss against her knuckles. The action clearly shocked Kaiya as her cheeks were still hot and her eyes had widened even further.

Keeping a hold of her left hand, he met her eyes again to answer, "I'll meet you at Ekoda Station. Saturday, at noon?" He suggested.

She smiled softly before nodding, "I'll see you there."

His smirk grew into a smile of warmth, "I look forward to it, Meikaitou-chan."

...

Author's Note: Hello there, I hope you enjoyed this story, I enjoyed writing this chapter. Please feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what you thought. The next chapter is called "Acquainted," and I hope you look forward to it.

* MANY KISSES * AMCDeBurgh ^_~