Wow, I finished this really quickly... I was on a writing spree! :D
Thank you guys for not thinking I totally sucked on the last chapter... I was feeling really down and I promised I won't get like that again! I promise.
So I make it up with this chapter in the New Year! Midori, you know what to do!
MIDORI: Alright! This Is Going To Be Awesome! Shadow-san owns nothing but me, the plot and ugh... Jamila... Gosho Aoyama owns Aoko and blah blah blah! R&R~! :D
AOKO: Hey! Show some respect for Aoyama-sensei!
Midori's heart skipped a beat.
"N-No way... A-Ao.."
She couldn't form the words as a sob escaped her throat. Her vision blurred by hot tears.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
The blade of Jamila's weapon was just an inch from Aoko's nose; Shock clearly evident on the woman's face.
"HELL YEAH!" Midori cheered happily, wiping away her happy tears.
Aoko smirked. Long straps of shadow held Jamila's Yari in place, the straps had come from the edges of her backpack.
"Your Awesome Shadow-Backpack!" Midori added loudly. Aoko couldn't help but laugh at that.
"H-How... How did you...? That Manipulation..." Jamila stuttered, her eyes wide as saucers. It was comical, considering how brightly lit her eyes were, they DID look like saucers. Aoko's smirk widened as the straps grew, enveloping the whole weapon and the woman's hands.
"I'm- We're DoAlms!"
Barely had those words passed her lips when Midori's Yari pierced through the Leech's stomach. Black blood spewed out, splattering over the dark floors. Jamila stiffened before slumping over. Midori grinned triumphantly, swinging Jamila away from them.
Aoko blinked as the strangely illuminated symbols from before disappeared from Midori's Yari like it had never been there at all. She ignored it for the time being.
Midori's eyes sparkled from the shed tears as she crouched down and pulled Aoko into an awkward hug, mindful of Kiyoshi. She didn't have to say anything out loud. Aoko could read her mind anyway. But even without that, the hug held the words.
I thought I was going to lose you.
Aoko returned the hug with one hand, giving her reply. Her reassurance to her partner.
Idiot. I would never leave you. Like I'd die that easily!
Midori laughed shakily as she helped the other to her feet. Aoko carried Kiyoshi firmly, looking over at the boy's face in concern. He was still in pain. The two DoAlms narrowed their eyes as a bloodied Jamila stood up again.
They both unconsciously took a step back. Jamila's still had a lot of power left. More than them. Aoko suddenly felt her muscles ache and almost useless. She glanced over at Midori who was panting slightly, wiping away a drip of blood from the side of her head.
It was then Aoko realized just how worn out they were.
"Damn... you!" Jamila stumbled. "How? How can DoAlms as Insignificant as you! You were... Supposed To Be Nothing! You-!" The Shadow Woman was cut off as her Mana surrounding the entire room shook and dissapated into nothingness. Moonlight once again shown through the face of the Clock. Jamila was horrified, soon replaced by anger.
"What the hell...?" Midori looked around, squinting as it got brighter.
"I... underestimated you, DoAlm Aoko, Midori..." Jamila whispered furiously. Her form was suddenly dissapating as she glared at them coldly. "Kei-sama will not be happy with me..."
"Wait!" Midori ran toward her. But it was too late. Jamila had disappeared. She cursed under her breath. She had missed her chance...
"Mi-chan! Kaito!" Aoko shouted. Midori snapped her eyes toward the boy to the pole. Weak mana still surrounding him. Both of them hurried over to him. The magician held a pained look as the last of Jamila's Mana coursed through him.
"How do we-?" Aoko looked at her best friend worriedly. She the looked down at Kiyoshi who was still in a bit of pain.
"The remaining Mana... It's acting like a weak poison." Midori concluded, brows furrowed.
'What should I do?' Aoko thought, panic slowly sinking in. 'What should I do?'
And it clicked.
Without a word, Aoko handed Kiyoshi to Midori. She moved in closer to Kaito, a hand unconsciously brushing away a bit of hair from his face.
Right now, it was Jamila's power that lingered in the air. So if Aoko could somehow get rid of it, Kaito and Kiyoshi would be safe. But how would she go about doing that?
Aoko calmly took a breath and allowed the straps of her back pack to expand. Though it wasn't so much her backpack as her own shadow, her power. It was transparent black with a purple tint as it blanketed the four of them. The only way to do away with Jamila's Mana was with her own. She had enough power to do so.
Kiyoshi instantly let out a deep breath of relief. His face relaxed and no longer scrunched up in pain as he slept on. Midori smiled.
Kaito twitched. His own tense muscles relaxed as the last of Jamila's Mana left, the binds disappearing. And he fell limply into Aoko's waiting arms. Unconsciously, he buried his face against her shoulder.
"It's over..." Aoko sighed wearily, smiling happily. She carefully set Kaito down against the pole as he continued to sleep. Midori hummed her reply, setting Kiyoshi next to Kaito. Kiyoshi immediately leaned over, resting his head on Kaito's arm.
They looked so peaceful sleeping there in the dim light. No one would have guessed a whole fight went on.
"Kaito should be waking up soon... I think I'm going to sleep." Midori yawned, letting her own Mana surround Aoko as she carried over all the big wounds. The gaping hole from her abdomen was now on her shadow who winced. "Jeez, how's you handle this?"
Aoko shrugged sheepishly, watching as Midori slipped into her shadow. She could feel it when she fell asleep.
With one last glance at Kaito's sleeping form, Aoko pulled on her bandana over her eyes and waited.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Warm. That's what Kaito felt when the horrible jell-o thing had been taken away from him. The warmth was similar to the last jell-o like before, but this one was just that. Warm. Nothing like the last thing.
He stirred. Kiyoshi let out a small moan at his movement. After that, Kaito was careful not to jostle the boy as he straightened up. Wait, Kiyoshi?
What was he doing there? Both of them? Something had happened before with Kiyoshi at WacDonald's? Why wasn't it he couldn't remember? Kaito groaned, smacking himself to get his brain to work.
"Are you alright?" Came a smooth, worried voice.
Kaito looked up to see a woman in a long trench coat wearing a strange backpack, her back to him as she stared at the clock. (Or whatever she was doing. How could she see with that bandana?) This was the woman with the Yari, he remembered that much.
"I'm fine." He replied stoicly. Kaito didn't know what to make of her. He wanted to feel edgy but... the warmth... it radiated from her. Almost reading his thoughts, the woman slowly turned around to face him. A smile graced her lips.
"I'm glad."
For a moment there was silence, neither of them really willing to break it. Kaito was proud as he kept a passive look on his face. In all honesty, he was feeling freaked out. But that didn't stop him from trying to study the woman in front of him. Though she was as hard to read as... his history text book. He sweat dropped.
It was the woman though, who decided to speak.
"Forgive me for getting you caught up in... all of this. I wasn't expecting... a double hostage situation." The woman spoke with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"What was all this?" Kaito asked simply eying the woman for any movement that would give away anything. She made none.
"A fight Blanks should not get into." Was her curt reply. Kaito raised a brow, but she shook her head. "Enough. You need to go home. I need to return the boy." The woman scooped up Kiyoshi in her arms and walked toward the face of the clock.
"Come." She commanded.
Kaito stood up carefully and followed her. She seemed... trustworthy enough. He followed her up a few stairs until they were infront of a small window. It was the window he had once gone through, the window from the face of the Clock. The woman –which upon closer inspection looked young- held out a hand to him as she took a step closer to the outside. Kaito blinked at it, grabbing onto her hand with his own without much thought.
"Trust me, ok?" She spoke, and she pulled them out the window.
Kaito's mind blanked out as they fell down many stories. He had fallen from a high place before, but never without his hangglider! Was the woman crazy?
The warmth from before appeared. And before Kaito knew it, he could feel solid ground even though they were no where near it yet.
"H-Huh?" He choked out in shock his hand grasping the woman's tightly. They then proceed to take steps down, and soon enough, they were at Real, Solid Concrete. "How-?"
"My power." The woman replied with a shrug, letting go of Kaito's hand (much to his disappointment strangely enough) and shifting Kiyoshi to get a better hold on him.
"OK, what the hell is going on?" Kaito glared at her. "Power? That weird Jell-O stuff? There was another woman too who was Obviously evil! What the hell was she doing?"
"Leech." The woman in front of him responded with disgust. "Feeds of emotion, mostly negative."
Great, her answers only brought more questions. Yet for some reason, he didn't feel as mad as he should be. Miffed, yes. But downright furious? No, absolutely not.
"Who are you?" Kaito asked.
"I... I have no name." The woman shrugged, turning to the magician. "What would you call me?"
More confusion washed over Kaito. There was nothing her could really do about it seeing as this whole situation was weird. "You saved a friend of mine. She calls you Komi."
The woman let out a breath (she'd been holding it?) and looked away. "Komi it is then."
"Will you be Ok returning home by yourself? Or should I assist you making your way there?" Komi asked indifferently. Kaito snorted.
"I don't know. Am I going to be attacked by a weird slutty-looking woman?" Kaito felt mildly proud as Komi chuckled lighly.
"No, you'll be safe... Try to steer clear of as many dark areas, alleys as possible anyway. And..." She looked at him one last time. "Try not to worry so much."
It took a couple minutes for the words to actually process into Kaito's head. Komi took of into a dead run, disappearing among to shadows of the night. Kaito merely stared at the direction she went, under the light of a nearby lampost and the Clock Tower.
"Well... that wasn't weird." He muttered to himself. He looked up at the Clock. It was 2:36.
Kaito sighed feeling completely worn out. Yet at the same time, he felt... light. It struck him as odd at the lightness. Lately, he had been so concerned over his best friend's behavior. Over Aoko...
Kaito took a look around him. It was the same spot, he remembered with a smile, where he had met her. Aoko... Worrying was a negative emotion. It caused him a lot of stress.
Try not to worry so much.
Komi's words seemed to echo in the silent night. He smiled as he headed off in his own direction. Strange as his new aqcuaintance was, she did have good advice.
Trust me, ok?
The image of his best friend appeared before him, smiling. Aoko would be alright, Kaito finally decided. He just had to trust her, just as Komi had asked him to trust her. Hell, Aoko didn't even need to ask.
"She's my best friend after all." Kaito whispered to himself happily.
-o-o-o-o-o-
"Ohayou." Aoko yawned tiredly as she entered her classroom the next morning. A few of her classmates replied, but she didn't pay them any mind. She automatically looked over at Kaito who was talking animatedly with Hakuba and Akako, both who looked annoyed.
After a second, he finally seemed to notice Aoko and he turned to her with a smile. "Ohayou, Aoko!"
'Ok, here's where my act begins. Don't think of it as an act!' "BAKA!" Aoko glared at him, pulling a mop from nowhere and swinging it at him. The class quieted down as Kaito dodged the unexpected attack.
"Wh-What the hell, Aoko?" Kaito gaped at her in alarm. "What'd I do?"
Aoko swung a few more times and she felt him dodge. She knew where he'd move. Letting go of her mop, she abruptly latched onto Kaito into a hug. Kaito along with the rest of the class were stunned.
The magician had been caught. Not hit with a mop, but nonetheless caught.
"You Disappeared, BaKaito! Baka, baka, baka!" She cried, feeling tears slide down her cheek. "Kiyoshi too! He disappeared for a while too! I didn't know what to do!"
She sobbed into his chest. And Aoko had done it. She had Kaito's credibility. She felt absolutely guilty, but she knew it was time she lied to his face. A Believable lie.
"I-I'm sorry..." Kaito said softly, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. "I didn't mean to... Umm.. well Kiyoshi and I yelled at each other and we just left and split up... We didn't mean to leave you behind..."
Aoko nearly dropped her act in shock. Kaito definitely had an easy time coming up with lies. She was up the rest of the night thinking of what to say after she had dropped Kiyoshi off at the Police Station. She made sure no one saw her and his parents were contacted which left her many hours to think.
How the hell did Kaito do it?
"BaKaito!" She smacked him, letting go and turning away with a pout. "I'm mad at you!"
"Wh-What? Wait, I-!" But the bell had rung, and class began.
Aoko took her seat, slouching a bit and keeping the teary pout on her face. Though she let her mind wander.
Kaito was definitely feeling different... He was more relaxed around her. Worried and confused with her little show she put on, but those were expected. He was no longer so... un-Kaito-ish. He seemed to go back to his carefree self.
Just as Aoko had changed over the course of these weeks, keeping secrets which she wasn't used to, Kaito had changed too, becoming almost bitter with worry for her. She was glad he was back to himself. As much as she hated to admit it... It was the thanks of the Leech for getting rid of negative emotion.
Kiyoshi had Jamila the longest though... His most prominent emotion was loneliness, Aoko knew from the first day she saw him. He felt cold before. She wondered how he was currently doing now... She still had his phone.
She rested her head in her arms on the desk, still giving off the upset vibe. This whole façade/ Poker Face was difficult to maintain... but something she could and would learn. Aoko closed her eyes, deciding a little bit of sleep wouldn't be bad.
-o-o-o-o-o-
"Awww, come on, Aoko! Are you gonna be mad at me all day?" Kaito whined as his best friend looked away from him. Keiko, Hakuba and Akako walked behind them as they headed for the gates of the school. "Talk to Meeeee!"
Aoko ignored him expertly. She was feeling so very proud with herself at keeping this up. She wished Midori was awake to see it! Her partner was worn out, however, so Aoko wouldn't be bothering her anytime soon. But her little angry façade was broken when she looked surprised at the aura nearby. Looking up she noticed Kiyoshi waving at them from the gates.
"Nee-chan~!" He grinned happily. Aoko grinned back, jogging towards him to pull him into a hug. A sour mood appeared around Kaito, but also one of relief as he saw Kiyoshi. He was glad to know he was alright after whatever happened the night before.
"Are you alright? Kaito said you guys just left WacDonald's yesterday and split up! I was worried when I couldn't find either of you!" Aoko told him with a frown. Kiyoshi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"S-Sorry, Nee-chan... I just didn't expect to get kidnapped..." He said.
"K-K-Kidnapped!" The group of teens yelled in shock. Kiyoshi nodded.
"Can't really remember what happened. All I know is, I was kidnapped and then someone left me at a Police Station. Kind of a Pointless Kidnapping if you ask me." The boy shrugged.
The honking of a horn interrupted them, and Kiyoshi looked back to a limousine parked across the street. A woman waited by an open door in the back. It wasn't someone she recognized...
"That's my Kaa-chan!" Kiyoshi smiled gently. Kaito looked back over at the woman, remembering something Kiyoshi had said about her. "She... was really worried when I didn't come home... it was surprising... I didn't think she cared..."
"Eh? How can you even think that?" Keiko asked. Kiyoshi shook his head.
"I just did... I don't anymore. I feel better! Kaa-chan really cares about me!" He grinned up at them. "Well, I'm here because... I wanted to say Good-bye."
"G-Goodbye?" Aoko repeated.
"My family's been planning to move to America due to Tou-san's work... I've been acting like a brat and putting it off a lot, but... I'm ready to go..." Kiyoshi told them. Aoko looked at him before rummaging through her bag and pulling out his phone that she held on to. He shook his head.
"Keep it. I don't need it anymore... I'm getting a new black one!" He said excitedly. Aoko smiled gratefully. At least that solved her 'No-Phone' problem.
The horn went off again as the butler signaled the young boy he had to go. He glanced at them with a sad smile, his gaze lingering on Aoko. A memory of the night before flashed through his mind... He couldn't remember much, everything was a haze. But Aoko's face... She was there, wasn't she? Someone at least, and it reminded him of her.
"What's wrong?" Hakuba was the first to ask. Kiyoshi shook his head.
"... So I guess this is Goodbye... N-Nee-chan?" Kiyoshi mumbled, a blush on his face. Aoko smiled at him, prompting him to go on. He took a breath.
Aoko knew it was coming, yet it was still surprising as a pair of small lips met hers. The kiss was quick and chaste and Kiyoshi pulled away with an even darker blush. He looked down at his bandaged hands. "Thank you..."
Aoko blinked before settling for a smile.
"Anytime."
"WHAT THE HELL HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?" Kaito shouted.
"Th-That Was Inappropriate For A Boy Your Age, Young Man!" Hakuba continued as Kiyoshi ran to the limousine with a wicked laugh. He and his mother got in the vehicle and it started on it's way. Kiyoshi stuck out his head to yell out to them.
"Hey, Aoko-Nee-chan! I Had A Weird Dream There Were Two Of You and I Got To Kiss You Both!" He laughed.
"WHY, YOU LITTLE BRAT! COME BACK HERE!" Kaito stomped his feet and attempted to chase after the car.
Aoko merely laughed as Kiyoshi waved goodbye. The boy would do well, she knew it.
She wondered what Midori would say about Kiyoshi dreaming he kissed them both.
-Meanwhile... Somewhere Else-
"You... didn't defeat them?" Came a cold voice from a man that had his back turned from Jamila as she knelt on the ground.
"... No, Kei-sama. Please forgive me..."
The Shadow Man otherwise known as Kei chuckled darkly, turning around to face his subordinate. "How... disappointing."
Jamila flinched at his tone.
"But no matter... I'll have to deal with them myself later. The Phantom Prince's arrival shall be perfect without those pesky DoAlms. Besides... I'm looking forward to seeing her face again... I'm already feeling nostalgic. How... sickening."
"Kei-sama!" Jamila spoke, standing up. "Please let me handle her! I can take her this time! For you! I can-! Aaaah!" She fell to her knees as Kei's overwhelming power crushed her.
"You failed me already, Jamila... What makes you think you can beat her? Presumptuous Whore..." Kei glared at her maliciously.
"F-Forgive me... Kei-sama." The Leech gasped for breath. Kei looked away staring out the window of an abandon building of Lune Noir. The Shadow's World...
"Get out of my sight." He ordered her. And the woman complied, standing shakily as she exited the room. Kei looked over the horizon, the usual dark clouds hanging above. A smirk suddenly erupted on his lips and gradually widened.
"I really am looking forward to see you..."
Midori.
And that's the end! Yay!
This little 'Leech Arc' is Over! YES! I don't know about you guys but I HATED Jamila! Ugh, she's such a ... ugh! And don't worry about Kei appearing any time soon... cuz he won't... Not yet.
Oh and somehow I get the feeling people will hate Kiyoshi for kissing Aoko? But he's just a kid, leave him be! Just had to write it in. ;D
AOKO: It was kinda sweet. C:
KAITO: Sweet? It wasn't Sweet at all!
AOKO: K-Kaito? What're you doing here?
ME: Taking Midori's spot while she rests... She's going to be sleeping a while...
AOKO: How long?
ME: Let's just say, your head'll be pretty quiet and you have it all to yourself.
KAITO: ?
AOKO: Oh... I hope Midori will be OK...
