by windtear raye_
DISCLAIMER: 'Magic Kaito' is copyright Aoyama Gosho and Shogakukan, not me.
Scenario IV: A Rose By Any Other Name
Keiko came running up the stairs to the roof. It was almost unbelievable - Aoko *wasn't* suicidal! - but just as the breathless freshman had gasped out, Aoko was sitting outside the safety fence, right on the edge of the six story drop, idly kicking her legs in the air, and Keiko felt her heart sink as she saw the fey look on her friend's face as she gazed out into nothing.
"Aoko?" she called gently, desperately hoping not to startle the other girl into slipping.
"Hey, Keiko," Aoko replied. "Come sit down."
"Why don't we sit down over here?" Keiko asked, hoping to gently draw Aoko back from whichever edge she was on.
"Here's fine," Aoko said dreamily. "Here I can feel the wind. I like the wind. It doesn't make promises to break them. It doesn't swear to remember and forget anyway. It doesn't say it will be somewhere and then not show. It doesn't love anything so it doesn't abandon anything."
Oh dear, Keiko thought. I don't even know if this is Kaito or her dad.
"Um, well, I'm not comfortable over there," she finally said. "You like the wind but it's too harsh for me."
"Honesty usually is harsh," Aoko said, in the same dreamy voice, "but okay." She slid back until her legs were back on the concrete lip and then she swung herself back upright, climbing over the fence and back into the main area of the roof. The whole scene had attracted an audience; Keiko watched as the guidance counsellor rushed over to where Aoko was standing, gathering her up gently as though Aoko were made of fractured china (and perhaps she was) and shepherding her away, down to her office. Keiko herself was mobbed by classmates telling her how brave she was.
Keiko herself shook off the empty accolades and cried herself to sleep that night. When Aoko had turned around, she'd seen how empty Aoko's eyes were, and couldn't deny the truth: She hadn't talked Aoko off the ledge. Inside her head, Aoko had already jumped.
Aoko wasn't at school for the next week, and when she did reappear, she was much quieter. The wild, always-cheerful girl Keiko had grown up with wasn't there in her eyes anymore, and the young woman who replaced her was more precise, more controlled, and much, much less alive. There were still flashes of the old Aoko there, though.
On the second day that Aoko was back, she and Keiko came back from lunch early, to find Koisumi Akako holding court. Keiko held her breath and hoped against hope that the bitchy but beautiful queen-bee would leave the subject of Aoko alone. No such luck, of course.
"It was Kuroba's transfer out that set her off," Koisumi announced, lifting her head and grinning triumphantly at Aoko as she continued, "Everyone knows she's been nursing that crush on him for years."
Keiko gritted her teeth. Aoko had always treated the bitch with friendliness, ignoring her barbs and choosing to see the best in her, and *this* was how she was repaid? But before Keiko could do anything, Aoko walked up to stand directly in front of the queen of the school. Suddenly, as fast as a striking cobra, she grasped the front of Koisumi's uniform blouse and ripped it open, popping off and scattering buttons all over the floor. The thin chemise Koisumi wore underneath it came away too, and a second jerk made the thin cotton rip apart, treating the entire classroom to the sudden knowledge that Koisumi Akako hadn't worn a bra this particular day. Whilst everyone was still frozen in shock, Aoko smiled grimly, gently cupped Koisumi's chin and kissed her cheek, and then walked back to her desk, where she sat down and calmly began to get ready for the afternoon's classes. Koisumi came out of her shocked daze, shrieked in horror, crossed her arms over her chest and fled to the school nurse.
Nobody went anywhere near Aoko for the rest of the day after that, but Keiko heard respectful whispering amongst the girls behind her. Koisumi might have been the prettiest girl in the school, but she sure wasn't the best-liked.
On the way home from school, Keiko asked her, "Why did you do that, with Koisumi-san's blouse?"
"She's always promising to the boys that she'll give them what they want, and never delivers," Aoko replied. "I'm sick of people promising me things and never carrying through. So I carried through on her promise for her."
"It wasn't right, though."
"You mean it wasn't in the school rules. I've recently learned that following the rules isn't always going to lead to doing what's right."
"That sounds like something Kuroba-san would say," Keiko ventured gently. Just because Koisumi had been cruel hadn't necessarily meant she'd been wrong.
Aoko's face suddenly crumpled and she abruptly sat down on the edge of the road. "It is," she whispered, as tears began to run down her cheeks. Aoko wasn't one of those girls who can cry prettily, but while her eyes reddened and her breath shortened, as long as she didn't wipe her eyes or sniff she could still talk. "I - Keiko, he - he left because of me. No," she shook her head at Keiko as she opened her mouth to interrupt. "I'm a child - deliberately - because I knew if I grew up I'd have to face it - face that Kaito and I aren't just friends and face that Dad's priorities are screwed up and that the real reason why I wanted to be a policewoman was so Dad would see me, and I knew I couldn't handle it and - and I - I saw Kaito that weekend - I mean, really saw - and, and he told me everything and I couldn't answer him, Keiko, I couldn't, I really couldn't and - and he *left* and - and..." Aoko started to sob in earnest.
Keiko sat down beside Aoko and put her arm around her friend's shoulders, offering what small comfort she could. That, at least, she knew how to do.
Keiko and Aoko never spoke of Kuroba again, all year. University exams and then graduation came and went, and after a bittersweet spring break Keiko found herself a student at Keio University's Pharmaceutical College. Over the next four years she found that it was hard to explain to anyone outside the program about the beauties of the lab and the knowledge that making medicines was as important as prescribing them, and so there was a level of distance introduced into her old friendships.
Aoko had gone into law enforcement, as everyone expected; possibly not as everyone had expected, she had taken the first opportunity to go into the homicide and special victims tracks rather than the less-violent field of grand larceny. At first Keiko had thought that she had been avoiding dealing with her father, but Aoko had spoken as glowingly of the first day she had been on the team set to arrest a murderer as Keiko had felt the first time she had compounded her first prescription (in a lab, watched by the teacher, according to the instructions on the board, but *still*).
As Aoko had risen in the ranks, her partners and teams had changed, and she had dutifully introduced her new friends to her oldest. Before long, Keiko noticed a pattern emerging; although officially partnered to a standard policewoman, Aoko kept getting detached to work with the members of the Golden Trio of Japanese Detectives, whenever a case involving one popped up. Of course, Keiko knew Hakuba from high school, so that had been an instant topic at the dinner where Aoko introduced her to the other two. Hattori Heiji was loud, brash and completely transparent; Keiko wondered if he had gone into law enforcement out of sheer frustration at being the only person around completely unable to lie, and then dismissed the thought. She immediately liked Toyama Kazuha, Hattori's not-girlfriend (growing up alongside Aoko's not-girlfriend status had made her acutely aware of the differences between girlfriend, girl friend, and not-girlfriend, and how to pick each one). She also liked Mouri Ran, Kudo Shinichi's fiancee. Kudo himself, however, raised so many of her warning flags that she sometimes thought that if she had been a dog she'd never stop growling at him. He was charming, friendly, thoughtful, and somehow so artificial she was tempted to ask Mouri-san where the 'on' switch was. His conversation was inconsequential to the point of being ephemeral and his eyes never stopped searching. The only time he had seemed at peace was once when he had been looking at Mouri-san, and Keiko thought that a bomb could have gone off beside him and he would have neither noticed nor cared, his focus had been so intense. It was not until a few months later that she realised why Kudo-san made her so uneasy he was almost exactly the same as Kuroba-san had been.
Keiko had watched Aoko closely for a few weeks after that, but Aoko seemed completely indifferent to Kudo-san, and genuinely happy for his and Mouri-san's wedding. Keiko relaxed when she realised this. Maybe she's finally over him.
Three months after that introductory dinner, Aoko was permanently transferred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Homicide Squad. Three weeks after the transfer went through, their regular coffee date came up, and Keiko took the opportunity to quiz Aoko about it.
"So you're happy?" Keiko asked.
"Very," Aoko replied.
"And your Dad?"
Aoko grimaced. "I haven't spoken to Dad face to face for over six months."
"I'm sorry," Keiko said sincerely. Nakamori Ginzo's actions were no surprise to her really, but disappointing nevertheless. Her own parents were delighted with her progress and had greeted the news that Keiko was up for an internship with the pharmaceutical department of the University hospital with sincere happiness.
"It's all right, and only what I expected." Her demeanour shifted suddenly. "But you'll never guess what happened this week!"
Keiko leaned in closer. She hadn't seen that fey light in Aoko's eyes in years. "What? What?"
"I got a phonecall. Kaito's coming back to Japan!"
And, looking into Aoko's no-longer-sane eyes, Keiko felt the world bottom out on her again.
True to what Aoko had said, Kuroba joined the two of them the next month as they had their coffee together. Polite questioning on why he had left ("The American school year starts in September, and if I wanted to take up the scholarship I'd won, I had to be there when it started."), what he'd been doing in the intervening time ("Studying and training. It's really hard to break into the professional magic circuit,"), and if he were sticking around ("That depends on what the magic circuit's like here,") only delivered the expected answers. She wasn't sure what made her suspect that Kuroba wasn't what he appeared to be, whether it was the fact that he seemed calmer and more mature, or the way he watched Aoko, but she found herself watching him suspiciously.
Finally Aoko got up to use the ladies' room, and Keiko attacked.
"Who are you *really*?"
He looked taken aback. "Momoi-san, I'm Kuroba Kaito. Remember? We went through high school together."
Keiko frowned. "I went to school with Kuroba-san, yes. But are you really him?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, and amused tone in his voice.
Keiko glared. "Okay, Mr. Mystery Man," she hissed. "One thing. When Kuroba-san, whom you're impersonating, left, I had to talk Aoko-chan down from jumping off the roof of our school. If you put her back in that spot when she finds out you're not him and break her heart, I will hunt you down and *vivisect* you. I'm a medical technician. I have a scalpel and I know how to use it."
At that, he looked suitably shocked. "Momoi-san, I -"
Keiko cut him off. "Just know that that's a promise, not a threat." She looked up and saw Aoko returning to the table. "Aoko! Ready for another cake?"
Aoko sat down again. "Of course! But Kaito looks white. What have you been saying to him?"
"She's been threatening me with grievous bodily harm should I break your heart, like any good best friend," the fake Kuroba-san replied smoothly, with a chuckle.
"Yep," Keiko added cheerfully. "We know where we stand now."
"Oh, okay then," Aoko smiled, not taking the banter seriously.
Keiko watched them over the rim of her coffee cup as she sipped at it slowly, watching as Aoko and the man interacted. If he wasn't seriously interested, she decided, he was a very good actor. But still, Aoko was hideously vulnerable. She would have to keep watching.
The next week, the Kaitou Kid made a dramatic reappearance in the Japanese night sky, stealing and promptly returning a beautiful yellow diamond.
For the first time ever, Aoko was indifferent to a Kaitou Kid heist. I decided to give up being jealous of the Kid years ago, she explained to Keiko. And since, when you get right down to it, my anti-Kid thing really was all about my jealousy, when I grew up and realised it wasn't all about me, I kind of stopped caring.
The fake Kuroba-san was sitting in the room as she said this, and Keiko couldn't help noticing him flinch.
It was six months later that Aoko came to her, proudly displaying the diamond on her finger.
Will you be my maid of honour, Keiko? I know you don't always trust him...
Keiko shook her head. He's not good enough for you, she told her seriously. But then, not even Susa-no-kamisama would be good enough for you. So, I guess he'll do. She waited a beat and then grinned. Yes, of *course* I'll be your maid of honour! *+*+*+*
Keiko slipped into the relative quiet of the hall of the reception centre. It was time for the bride and groom to leave, and the farewell line was forming up, but she couldn't find Aoko or Kuroba-san anywhere. Kuroba-san had been holding Aoko's hand ever since the conclusion of the ceremony, and Aoko had encouraged it, so wherever they were, they were probably together.
Of course, Aoko's father hadn't made it. There had been a Kaito Kid heist on tonight, so the Kaitou Kid Task Force was out in force, guarding a giant sapphire called the Blue Princess, and Nakamori Ginzo, when confronted with a choice between standing up with his daughter at her wedding and pursuing the Kaitou Kid, had firmly plumped for the latter.
She was standing outside the dining room where the wedding supper had been served, debating whether to go in and try her luck at beating the waiters to some of the leftover dessert, when she heard a rich, smooth voice from inside.
Good evening, Inspector Nakamori. I must say, I'm surprised at you and your team. Here I am, about to make my getaway with the Blue Princess, whom, incidentally, I will not be returning, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of you.
Keiko peeped in the doorway, and saw Kuroba-san leaning against the wedding party's table, looking relaxed and at ease as he talked into a mobile phone.
How very diligent of you! But I'm afraid you're guarding the wrong treasure. Do tell me, Inspector have you noticed anything about this phonecall? Such as, whose phone it's from?
There was a pause, then, and Keiko felt frozen to the spot as a hundred little things from the past few months came together. She couldn't move or blink as Kuroba-san no, the Kaitou Kid, she realised continued to speak.
You wrong me, Inspector, he said, sounding mournful and amused at the same time. I swear in fact, I have just sworn, legally, in front of over a hundred witnesses - that I will never harm a hair of her head. He paused. Such language! he added virtuously. My target? You haven't yet realised? Well, then, tell me, please what does your daughter's name mean?
Her heart sank. Ao-ko the Blue Child, the Blue Maiden. The Blue *Princess*...
He'd told them. He'd told all of them, and they'd forgotten that the Kaitou Kid stole *treasures*, not just jewels...
Exactly, the Kaitou Kid hissed into the phone, all veneer of civility gone. As I promised, the Blue Princess is mine, now and forever. She has been taken from you, who valued her not; I shall not cede her into your uncaring hands again. He ended the call with a quick press of a button and laid the phone down on the table behind him. You can come in, Momoi-san, he added conversationally.
Keiko stepped into the room. Rather than pretend ignorance, she went straight on the attack. Okay, why? If this is just for revenge I swear I'll -
Because I'm in love with her, his voice cut across her tirade, stopping it dead. I've been in love with her for years and I couldn't stay away anymore, and then I couldn't not try to make her smile, and then I couldn't not try to make her love me back, properly, and then I couldn't not ask her to stay with me forever. Revenge for what? The Kaitou Kid Task Force haven't done anything to me if anything they've given me lots of entertainment.
Behind them on the table, Aoko's phone began to play, guitars and violins in a triumphant instrumental. Both of them ignored it.
She didn't have anything to say to that, until a thought crossed her mind. Aoko thinks you're her Kuroba-san -
Aoko knows exactly who and what I am. I told her ages ago, he replied conversationally.
You're a thief!
I was looking for something, and I found it. I have no more need to steal. Just as Lupin retired when he married Raymonde, so have I.
No, you *are* a thief! You know Inspector Nakamori will never after this slap in the face! Wherever you two go, you'll never be able to come back! I'll never see Aoko again!
You're overreacting, Keiko. Of course you'll see me again. Aoko's voice came from behind her. Keiko turned to see Aoko, wearing her blue going-away dress and holding the overnight bag they'd repacked just the day before in one hand. Yeah, Dad will be crazy, but you remember how easy it was to duck around him when we were teenagers. He's got even worse tunnel vision now. I'll get in contact with you, it'll be fine. She walked up to Kuroba-san and hugged him; he wrapped his arms around her so tight that it seemed to Keiko he was trying to break her. Kaito, how much time do we have left?
I hung up on him about, oh, two minutes ago. Say another three to finish getting into the squad cars and twenty-five to get here add ten minutes for traffic we have thirty-eight minutes.
Enough time to say goodbye, then. Aoko walked back to Keiko and hugged her, hard enough to strain ribs. This isn't 'goodbye', she said, it's 'see you later'. We will, don't worry. The two of them walked out, and Keiko felt bereft.
Behind her, the phone blared its happy tune again, and irritation pulled in all her confusion and hurt into itself and painted a big fat target on the phone. Her best friend might *say* she'd be back, but who could be sure? And it was because of the man on the other end of the call that she might not come back. So she reached over, picked it up, took a deep breath, pressed the 'Accept Call' button and began chattering.
Hey Aoko, you've left your phone behind! Don't worry, I'll look after it, it'll be fine. In fact it's probably better you did -
WHO IS THIS? roared out of the phone.
Oh, oh hi, Inspector Nakamori! This is Keiko, Aoko's friend. Were you ringing to offer your congratulations? I'm really sorry, but you've missed them! Aoko and Kuroba-san just left.
WHO?
Aoko and Kuroba-san you know, your daughter and her new husband? You just missed them, sorry.
Inspector Nakamori spat a curse word. Keiko grinned and blathered on, You could ring the hotel and ask them to put you through to their room, I'm sure Aoko wouldn't mind. Kuroba-san might, though!
Hotel? Which hotel? the Inspector demanded.
Keiko frowned at the phone. Even she knew that basic interrogation techniques involved being nice to the informant and encouraging them to chatter without thought, not cutting across and over them rudely and swearing. For that, the Inspector had just earned himself a nice little false lead. Well, I'm not sure on this, but Aoko mentioned the Grand Chevalier... The Grand Chevalier was a prestigious hotel on the other side of the city, incidentally well away from the reception hall and the route to Narita Airport. There was a sharp click in her ear as the Inspector hung up without a word.
Keiko shrugged and looked at the phone. Flashing on the screen was the text: 'SAVE AUDIO RECORDING OF CALL? Y/N'. Grinning, she pressed Y.
Let's see the Inspector get out of this.
The next six weeks were insane. Police interrogations. Requests for interviews from gossip magazines and tabloid TV shows. Veiled, not so veiled and outright demands for information about her best friend. Everybody wanted to know about the Blue Princess who had managed to bewitch the Wizard of the Twenty-First Century, as the romance of the situation captured the imagination of the public; Keiko didn't talk, but lots of others did. All the details of Aoko's life came out. Unsurprisingly, it appeared that 'Kuroba Kaito' didn't exist he'd left Japan at age seventeen and had apparently vanished into thin air until six months before, when he had appeared and begun courting Aoko. When that came out, Keiko felt completely vindicated for suspecting him the whole time.
It was after a long and tiring day at work that Keiko came staggering into her flat. She didn't even think to check the caller id as she picked up the ringing phone.
Hey, Keiko.
All her fatigue swirled away as she realised she was hearing her best friend's voice for the first time in six weeks. They chattered over inconsequential matters until Keiko gathered her courage and asked, Aoko, are you happy? Really?
Yes, Keiko. Really.
And Keiko could tell - for the first time in ten years, Aoko wasn't lying.
1. Keio University is one of the top ten universities in Japan, has one of the top medical programmes in the country and has five campuses located around the Tokyo prefecture. Although not as famous as ToDai, in the medical fields, including pharmaceutical medicine, it has an equal if not stronger reputation.
2. In 'L'Aiguille Creuse' ('The Hollow Needle'), the third novel featuring Arsene Lupin, by Maurice Leblanc, published in 1909, Lupin meets and falls in love with Raymonde de Saint-Veran; because she refuses to marry a thief, he gives up stealing and becomes an honest businessman. Although the character of Lupin is notorious as a ladies' man and married three times, his marriage to Raymonde is notable both for lasting the longest and being the only one he made major changes in his life for, and for these reasons many fans consider Raymonde to be the true love of his life. Their marriage was happy but brief; Sherlock Holmes tracked Lupin down and shot and killed Raymonde when she tried to protect her husband. Lupin promptly returned to his life of crime; it is a common and unsolvable debate amongst Lupin fans whether, if Raymonde had lived, he would have been able to stay straight or eventually returned to the criminal world.