Mikau: Hello, friends! Sorry I dropped off the face of the earth for…a week or two? Things have been a little hectic, but I finally got this chapter finished and edited. I have the draft done for next chapter too, so I should have that chapter posted next weekend as well. Before we get started, I'd like to thank all those that reviewed last time: northernlion196, DetectivePandaThief, Alice, Zoe Nguyen, lupsss1412, and EverThePhantom. I was so encouraged by your feedback, so thank you again for taking the time to drop me a line. It's much appreciated. And now on with the show.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, Vermouth would have her own spinoff manga. I'd like to see her backstory, where she grew up, what her early life was like, and how she ended up as the Vermouth we know and love today.

…

Omake: Two Times Kaito Broke the Rules

Kaito was lounging upside-down in the armchair when Vermouth returned from that night's job. His face lit up when she called out, "I'm home."

"Welcome home, Mom!" he greeted in return, wiggling out of the chair as he hastily slipped his bookmark into the copy of Eugenie Grandet he'd been reading.

Vermouth shook her head slowly and waved a finger at him. "Don't call me that," she protested tiredly.

"Welcome home, Auntie Sharon," Kaito amended, trotting up to give her a kiss on the cheek. "How was work?"

She sighed heavily and shook her head again as she went over to the minibar built into the bookcase by the fireplace. "I need a drink." She stared into the small fridge, taking stock of her supply. She paused, frowned almost imperceptibly, and then closed the fridge door, headed for the vacated armchair.

"Kaito, be a sweetheart and make your aunt a French 75." She sank back into the soft leather of the chair, closing her eyes and propping her feet up on the ottoman.

"A French 75?" Kaito echoed, biting his lip as he called to mind the recipe. "…I can't. We don't have any…" He froze when he realized his mistake.

"Champagne," Vermouth finished for him, slowly opening her eyes to stare down her foster son. "Would you care to explain why we don't have any champagne, Kaito? I could have sworn last night there was still one of those little single serving bottles left in there, but you knew we didn't have any champagne without even having to look. How is that, do you suppose?"

Kaito hung his head in shame. "I was going to replace it before you noticed. The last book I read was talking about the champagne they were having at a party, and I—"

"—Kaito," Vermouth snapped.

Kaito flinched but looked up to meet her gaze. "Yes?" he hesitantly responded.

"What's rule number one?"

"Don't get caught," Kaito recited with a sigh. "Sorry."

"And what's rule number two?" Vermouth pressed.

Kaito could have smacked himself. "When you're cornered, lie your way out of it. I guess I double failed, huh?" he sighed.

"So it seems," Vermouth snickered, the authoritarian tone slipping out of her voice now that the lesson was ended. "Make me a martini, Honey."

"Yes, Auntie Sharon." Kaito grabbed the gin and vermouth. "How many olives?"

"Just one," she hummed, closing her eyes to give them a rest. "And, Kaito?"

"Yes?" He paused with the gin bottle almost horizonal in the air.

"In the future, stay out of my alcohol. You're too young to drink, you precocious brat."

Kaito snorted softly as he began to pour. "Maybe in Japan, I am."

"And I don't want you drinking alone. It's not healthy," she added.

"You're drinking alone," Kaito remarked as he added the vermouth.

"Do as I say, not as I do," she replied in a singsong.

"Sure," Kaito grumbled but then summoned up his courage and frustration and continued, "You know, you treat me like such a child sometimes. It's not like I'm being irresponsible. I'm not going out to wild parties and getting drunk and putting myself in danger or anything."

Vermouth pursed her lips, deep furrows cutting into her brow. She slowly slid her eyelids open and met his gaze. "You want to know the real reason I'm so against you drinking?"

Kaito looked at her with open curiosity. Vermouth rarely went into detailed explanations. Usually "because I said so" was the rule of the day.

Vermouth looked at him with tired eyes and a soft, affectionate expression. "Alcoholism runs in the family, and you've got an addictive personality. I don't want you developing a taste for the stuff."

Kaito's lips rounded into a surprised 'O' even as his eyes widened.

After half a minute of stunned silence, Kaito muttered an awkward "Oh." and went back to mixing Vermouth's martini. "…Which side of my family?"

"Hmm?" Vermouth's eyes had slipped closed once more.

"Which side of my family does—does alcoholism run on?" Kaito tried to keep his voice steady as he quickly flipped through his early memories of his parents, searching for any indication.

"Both," Vermouth sighed. "Your father's father was a mean drunk. That's why Touichi ran away and changed his name as soon as he was old enough to get out on his own. He didn't talk about it much, but I managed to piece things together over the years I knew him. Touichi hardly ever touched alcohol."

"And on my mother's side? Your side?" Kaito frowned down at the glass in his hand. "Should you really be drinking, if you've got increased risk factors for alcoholism?"

Vermouth chuckled quietly. "Don't worry about me, Kaito. I'm no alcoholic. When I say 'I need a drink', I never actually physically need a drink. I go without drinking for weeks for missions, and I don't experience withdrawal from it. It seems that I dodged the alcoholic bullet."

Kaito's frown deepened. "What about my mother?"

Vermouth shook her head. "Chikage…struggled sometimes. The mental health issues didn't help things, and she often used alcohol as a coping mechanism when things got overwhelming. She was never a full-blown alcoholic, but there were times when Touichi and I worried about her. I'm not taking any chances with you, though."

Kaito nodded and handed over the martini glass. "I wish you'd talk to me like this more often."

Vermouth's eyes widened in surprise.

"You know I have a hard time following rules just because. If you sat down and talked to me like this—treated me like an adult, like I'm old enough to understand things—I think it'd be better for the both of us."

Vermouth reached up for his cheek, and he knelt down so that she could reach it. She gently stroked his cheek bone with her thumb, a melancholy shadow in her eyes. "Sometimes I forget what a mature young man you're getting to be. I look at you, and I still see my little Kaito, eight years old and trying to keep his brave face on to make his father proud of him." Her hand moved up to tussle his hair. "All right. If you think you're being treated like a child, say so, and I'll try to step back and explain myself. Good?"

"Good," Kaito affirmed.

"Good." Vermouth cracked a weary smile. "Now go on up to bed, Honey. It's past the time all good little kaitou should be sleeping."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "It's just past midnight."

"But you need your beauty sleep, if you're going to wake up refreshed and ready to seduce those detectives of yours," she hummed mischievously.

"Mom," Kaito groaned, a blush quickly spreading across his nose and cheeks.

Vermouth laughed at her foster son's expense, suddenly in a good mood, despite how drained she felt from the mission. She decided to let Kaito get away with calling her "mom" this once.

"Good night, Honey." She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead.

"Good night," Kaito sighed, giving her cheek a reciprocal kiss. His eyes met hers as he pulled back. "I love you."

A twinge shot through Vermouth's entire body like a lightning bolt from her toes to the tips of her hair: equal parts guilt and delight. It was like that every time Kaito told her he loved her. Part of her wondered if he'd still love her if he knew the truth. The other part vibrated with pure joy. No one had ever truly loved her before this sweet, innocent boy, and after eight years together, the sensation was still somehow new and unique every time he said it.

How had she managed to scrape by on her lonely existence for so long without love? Perhaps because she hadn't known what she was missing? Now, she knew for sure, she wouldn't be able to go back to that pre-Kaito life again. The cold void of aching loneliness and constant derision would end her.

"I love you too, Honey." She smiled more easily this time, energized by his words. "Sweet dreams."

"Don't stay up too late," Kaito teased, grinning as he scooped up his book and headed for the stairwell. "See you in the morning."

She watched him all the way to the stairs until he slipped out of sight. Her heart still felt warm from his words.

…

Kaito was curled up on the couch with Like Water for Chocolate, wondering if he could make any of the recipes in the book when his mother shouted down the stairs:

"Kaito! Come up here for a minute!"

Kaito mentally reviewed everything he had done the past week to see where his infraction lay because Vermouth's tone conveyed that she was not in a good mood. And yet, Kaito couldn't think of a single thing he'd done wrong…that she could possibly be aware of, anyway.

"Coming!" he called, striding across the living room and hurrying up the stairs. Best to get it over with. Normally he preferred to stretch things out as much as possible so as to avoid the unpleasant thing as long as he could, but with his mother, she only got angrier the longer you kept her waiting.

"What's up?" he inquired neutrally, going for "innocent" and "completely unaware of anything for which I am to blame". He leaned on her doorframe nonchalantly for added effect.

Vermouth pursed her lips, putting her hands on her hips as she frowned, nonplussed. "Honey, I can't find my red dress. Have you seen it?"

Kaito managed to keep his poker face in place, but on the inside he was cursing. Did he not remember to put it back?! He could have sworn he put it back on its hanger the previous afternoon after he'd gotten it back from the drycleaner.

Kaito frowned. "No. I haven't seen it. Is it not where you left it?"

"No, and I've looked all over for it," Vermouth snorted, a bit of a pout coming into her voice. "Come in here and help me look."

Kaito entered his mother's bedroom and followed her into her walk-in closet. He held his breath as he went over to the rack where he thought he'd put the dress. And there it was. Right where he thought he'd left it.

With a chuckle of giddy relief, Kaito went straight to the dress, pulling it off the rack and showing it to his mother. "Mom, look. It's right here. You probably just overlooked it."

"Hmm," Vermouth hummed disapprovingly. "How funny. Kaito, I have five red dresses, but you knew exactly which one I was talking about."

Kaito blanched, his stomach turning over.

"There's a little elastic strap on the inside of the dress to help keep it on the hanger. I hardly ever use them, but I make sure that they're tucked inside the dress, out of sight when the dress is hung up. You left one of the elastic straps hanging out the arm hole," Vermouth explained, another heaping serving of disappointment in her gaze.

Kaito sighed, hanging his head.

"You have your own dresses, Kaito. Why did you feel the need to borrow mine?" Her hands went to her hips, and she tilted her head to the side, waiting impatiently for an explanation.

Kaito looked at the floor and mumbled, "My dresses weren't right for the occasion."

Vermouth raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What occasion would that be?"

Kaito sighed even more deeply, shoulders inching up to his ears. "Clubbing?"

"Clubbing?" Vermouth snapped. "Where?"

Kaito squirmed. "Shinjuku?"

"Is that where you were Friday night?" she accused.

"I was just dancing," Kaito tried to defend himself. "I wasn't drinking, and I'd never hook up and sleep with random strangers. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong. I just…" The conviction in his voice dropped to an embarrassed mumble. "Sometimes I just like to dress up and go dance with people my own age. I'm not a baby anymore; I'm seventeen."

Vermouth bit the inside of her cheek and counted to three before she responded tensely, "Kaito Honey, I understand that you're a teenager and you want to get out and have fun and mix with other young men and women, but you have to understand that it's dangerous to go to those kinds of places late at night on your own."

Kaito opened his mouth, but Vermouth cut him off.

"—I'm not done. Another thing: that dress is wildly inappropriate, young man, no matter where you were going. You had to know that I would never let you out of the house wearing something like that. You are seventeen, for God's sake, and too young to be walking around half naked."

Kaito opened his mouth to protest once more, but Vermouth didn't let him get a word in.

"—Don't argue with me. That is my slut dress, and you know it. I know precisely how much bosom you had to create to fill out that dress, and that much cleavage is completely unacceptable."

"It's your dress," Kaito huffed, exasperated. "Why'd you buy it, if it was completely unacceptable?"

"Because it's one thing for people to look at me and think I'm a floosy—I don't give a damn—but when it's my child? Kaito, I don't want you going out and having people think you're easy," she stressed, willing him to understand her feelings as a mother.

"That's their problem," Kaito snorted. "I should be able to wear whatever I like. Who cares what other people think? I like the way I look."

Vermouth let out a slow breath, gazing sympathetically at her son. "Honey, I wish we lived in a world where women could wear whatever they wanted without being judged, but we don't, Kaito, and Japan is far more conservative than New York, LA, or Paris. Now, you can wear dresses like that when you're older, if that's really what you want, but, for now, let's pick something a little less plunging in the neckline department, okay? It is still possible to be sexy without showing off how good you are at creating lifelike fake breasts. All right?"

Kaito was silent for a good ten seconds before he finally gave in with a sigh. "Oh, all right. I still think it's ridiculous and unfair, but if it really means that much to you, I'll tone down the va-va-voom factor…. Can I still go clubbing from time to time?"

"Not by yourself, no." Vermouth put her foot down. "Don't tell me you can protect yourself. What if someone slips you something? What if you get ganged up on? It's irresponsible to put yourself at risk like that. Alone, you're an easy target. If you had some friends to go with, I'd feel more comfortable."

"I don't think Hakuba's into clubbing, my mystery guy has a curfew, and I get the feeling that people at school would think I was a weirdo if they found out I dressed up as a girl to go dance with guys at clubs. I've been told that crossdressing and homosexuality aren't as widely accepted as I had originally thought," Kaito informed her bitterly.

Vermouth pursed her lips. "Have you ever asked Hakuba-kun? If that falls through, maybe you and I could work out some compromise. Maybe I could go with you every once in a while and sit at the bar while you dance, or maybe you could tell me exactly where you're going to be and call and check in every thirty minutes…" She trailed off, looking strangely out of her element.

"You're going to call and tell Uncle Vodka about this, aren't you? You've got your 'I need parental collaboration' look on your face." Kaito grimaced. He had the feeling that Vodka was going to launch into a speech about how he would never have let Minami go clubbing alone, if she had lived to be Kaito's age, the next time Kaito saw his favorite uncle.

Vermouth shrugged. "I'm just…remembering all the trouble I got up to at your age, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed."

"You're thinking of blackmailing everyone so they'll take turns babysitting me," Kaito sighed knowingly. "Uncle Vodka and Bourbon would probably do it without the blackmail."

Vermouth frowned, coming out of her reverie. "…Someone mentioned the other day that you had been flirting with Bourbon. What's all that about?"

Kaito smirked mischievously. "It's fun to make him blush."

"You're not getting involved, are you?" Vermouth's eyebrow scrunched together. "He's a decade older than you, and I think he likes women."

"Don't worry, Mom," Kaito assured. "Age gaps like that aren't such a big deal in Japan like they are in the US. You see it in anime and manga all the time. Remember in Cardcaptor Sakura how that one grade school kid is dating her teacher? Totally not a big deal. Amu-chan and my love is strong enough to survive."

Vermouth's jaw went slack, and she stared in horror at her child, too stunned to remember to scold him for calling her "Mom".

Kaito rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding. Relax. He knows I'm teasing. We're friends, that's all."

Vermouth breathed an enormous sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."

"Besides, I don't think I could handle more than two lovers at a time, so I'm kind of at my limit," Kaito added thoughtfully.

Vermouth went back to frowning. "When are you going to tell me your mystery boy's identity? I could figure it out on my own, if I did some prying, Kaito, but so far I've decided to respect your privacy."

Kaito shrugged. "Dunno. Soon, hopefully. He's the one who's trying to lay low and doesn't want his name getting around. You'd think I was crazy, but I'd have no problem telling you."

This revelation made Vermouth's frown deepen, spreading across her brow, down her nose, and to her lips.

"…Back to the topic of clubbing?" Kaito gently prodded.

Vermouth sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. Let me think about it and come up with a plan. I understand your side of things, Honey, I really do, but—"

"—But you're afraid something bad is going to happen to me if I keep going to places like that without backup. You're worried because you love me. I get it. It just kind of sucks to be the guy without many friends his age," Kaito sighed, face slipping into a pout.

Vermouth stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him.

He reciprocated and rested his head on her shoulder.

He was getting to be almost as tall as she was.

"Oh, Honey," she sighed. "I'm sorry. I know I sound unreasonable."

"Not really." Kaito matched her sigh. "I get it, but…I just wanna go dance."

She reached up and soothingly pet his hair. "We'll figure something out."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, each taking comfort in the other's warmth as they recovered from the encounter.

As they slowly separated, Kaito's eyes widened in realization. "Wow. I guess I failed again, didn't I?"

Vermouth's eyebrow quirked in confusion. "Failed what?"

"You were testing me, weren't you? With the dress. You knew I'd worn it, so you set a trap for me," he explained. "You know. 'What's rule number one?' 'Don't get caught.' 'What's rule number two?' 'When you're cornered, lie your way out of it.' I was supposed to lie my way out of getting caught borrowing the dress, right?"

Vermouth didn't answer right away. He was right. She had been testing him, but…now, knowing what he'd been hiding from her, she suddenly didn't feel so keen on teaching him to be deceptive.

She pursed her lips. "Yes and no. Kaito, I think not getting caught and lying your way out of sticky situations are important skills in our line of work, but I'm starting to think that encouraging you to lie to me wasn't one of my best ideas."

She looked him in the eye and insisted, "Honey, I would rather know the truth about where you are and what you're doing, even if it's sleeping with people or doing drugs, than have you lie to me about going over to Vodka's when you're really out clubbing. At least then I would know where to go if you were in trouble. I know you usually confide in Vodka, and that's good. I'm glad you two have that kind of relationship, but I want you to be able to confide in me too."

Kaito nodded judiciously. "Okay. I'm not promising anything, but I can at least keep it in mind. It's a little hard to be completely upfront with you about everything because you're the one that enforces the rules."

"And Vodka is the one that lets you have a PlayStation after I've already told you no," Vermouth sighed, finally appreciating their relative positions.

Kaito grinned. "Precisely. I'll try to keep in mind the fact that you're just worried about me and have my wellbeing at heart in the future, though." He reached out and patted her on the head before turning to go. "Love you, Mom."

She started to correct him but then let it go. As much as the appellation stirred up pain and fear of exposure and guilt for what she had put Chikage through, she really did like being "Mom", and she was touched that he thought of her as such.

"Love you too," she called after him, not for the first time appreciating the way he had picked up the American habit of saying "I love you". It was almost unheard of in Japan for people to hug and kiss and affectionately touch and let each other know how they felt as much as she and Kaito did. She was grateful for it. It felt like it was slowly making up for the rest of her life.

Vermouth came out of her closet and went over to her chaise longue to place a phone call.

He picked up on the second ring, and before he could say anything, Vermouth pounced, "Vodka, what do you know about Kaito going out to clubs by himself?"

…

Mikau: There are parts of this chapter that I don't really love, mostly because they touch a nerve. I don't personally want to go out in skimpy clothing, but I want to live in a world where women who do want to can without getting hassled about it. So Vermouth's point of view kind of annoys me. Why write a point of view that I don't agree with, you ask me? Because the beauty of being a writer is that it allows you to explore the other side of things and portray opinions that aren't necessarily your own. It's healthy to force yourself to see things from a different perspective from time to time. Anyway, I did enjoy doing the Vermouth and Kaito interactions in this chapter. Those two are cute, and I'm having fun exploring how raising Kaito has changed Vermouth and made her character diverge from canon. I hope you're enjoying their relationship as well. Thanks for reading!