Mikau: Hi. Yes. I know. I'm late. I don't really have a good excuse. This week was a little crazy what with one of my bosses having a seizure at work and another's wife having to have surgery, so he was only in for half the day most of the week. It was crazy busy too, so by the time I got home from work, I just didn't feel like editing. Sorry. It's done now, though. *Smiles sheepishly* And it's extra-long. Anyway, thanks so much to all of my reviewers: SilverSapphire34523, Detectivewriters, neonquincy1217, Bunnyz-chan, Pu7o, Kimmiko T, Miss Emotion, 908-03, Orange04 (times two), and GeekyGenius (times two). You guys give me the motivation to keep going…twenty-one chapters later.
Also, I've got a lot of new, exciting stuff happening. Check out Summer Glow, a HeiKai friendship fic that may turn into actual HeiKai if I ever continue it. There's Nightmares, a reaction fic to the Dark Knight episode that's 2/3 angst and 1/3 comedy. Also, I have a new HakuShin fic called Endings Are Only New Beginnings. And the new A Light in the Darkness (ALD) chapter is also up.
Disclaimer: If I owned it, Sonoko and Kaito would canonically be besties.
…
Chapter Twenty-One: Girl Talk
Sonoko went straight home and took an extended bubble bath. She did all of her best thinking when in a bubble bath with dim lighting, soft music, and a dozen flickering scented candles. And she had a lot to think about today.
I mean, come on. She'd actually met the Kaitou Kid in person, in real life, and out of costume. How much more surreal can you get?!
There were dozens of things to consider. First of all, her idol was a high school student. He was the same age as Sonoko herself! How the heck was that even possible?! She'd always pictured her Kid-sama as some really cool, suave grad student of at least twenty-seven years of age. This Kuroba Kaito was a far cry from the handsome, mature man that she'd envisioned and cast in her fantasies these past few years.
Not to say that Kuroba-kun wasn't attractive. He was…actually, kind of pretty. He was charming and charismatic with a stellar smile, but…he wasn't the Casanova, Romeo, and James Bond all rolled into one that Sonoko had dreamt about. And he wasn't as tall as Sonoko had always thought, either. She supposed that the hat added height, but…
And then there was the fact that Kuroba Kaito and Kudo Shinichi could be brothers. It kind of bothered her that she'd been tripping over herself for Kudo's long lost twin for all this time. It felt wrong and sort of dirty.
She thought about these and many things while soaking in the bath, but nothing really got solved or sorted out. She still had all of the same problems and questions when she got out of the bath as she had had going in.
The Suzuki heiress got dressed and went down for dinner, remaining oddly quiet throughout (to the point where her father had asked if things were going okay between her and Makoto).
She went back up to her room, did her homework, watched an episode or two of her new favorite drama, and got ready for bed. It was only ten o'clock, and she usually didn't turn in until eleven, so she decided to spend her last hour lounging around, catching up on the latest news from the gossip magazines.
"They make that stuff up, you know," a half-familiar voice chuckled snidely, like a cat turning up its nose at the dish its wait staff had dared serve it.
Sonoko jumped at the sudden interruption, head whipping around, searching for the source.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you, My Lady." With a grin, the Kaitou Kid in street clothes pulled back the curtains and stepped into the room from the balcony entrance.
"K-Kid-sama," Sonoko gasped, sliding clumsily off of the bed and onto her feet, keeping the bed between them.
For the first time she was wary of the thief. For the first time she felt the danger of being alone with the criminal. She knew his face, knew his name. It suddenly dawned on her that she might know too much and that that knowledge might pose a threat. Kid might start rethinking his "no one gets hurt" policy.
"I swear I won't tell anyone about you, not even Ran, so you don't have to worry," she promised hastily, the fear evident in her voice.
Kaito blinked, coming to a stop still a good twelve feet across the room from her. "Um…It's okay…Sonoko-chan. Can I call you Sonoko-chan? I mean…I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you were thinking. I…"
He paused, unsure of himself. He'd planned out what he was going to say…as Kid. But Kid seemed to be freaking her out at the moment, and that wasn't any good, so he had to switch over to Kaito. But Kaito wasn't prepared for this. Sure, he was an expert at adlibbing, but, for some reason, this was hard.
He took a deep breath, shutting his eyes and rubbing his temples. "Look. I'm just here to talk, so…who do you want to talk to? Kid? Or did you want Kuroba Kaito? 'Cause I'm kind of having trouble deciding which program to run here," Kaito sighed.
Sonoko frowned, tentatively coming around her bed, stopping by one of the posts for some semblance of cover. "What do you mean 'which program to run'?"
Kaito chuckled weakly. "Sorry. I… Think of it like a computer. There are basically two programs to choose from: Kid or Kaito. I kind of…things get a little complicated with the mental circuitry when you lead a double life. Depending on the person I'm interacting with, the location, the situation, stuff like that, I'm either Kaito or I'm Kid, but right now…I don't know who I am with you, since you know me more as Kid, but you now know that I'm Kaito too, so…Just know that I'm not a weirdo or anything, and I'm not going to hurt you. I just came to talk, so…would you rather chat with Kid or Kuroba Kaito?"
"Can I talk to Kid-sama first?" Sonoko requested, slowly coming to sit on the large chest that served as a bench at the foot of her bed.
"Of course, My Lady," Kid responded with a flourish and a bow. He tentatively made his way over to where she was sitting, knelt beside her, and produced a yellow rose. "Again, I apologize for startling you."
Sonoko blushed and smiled, accepting the gift. "You're going to make your girlfriend unhappy if you keep giving flowers to other women, Kid-sama."
Kaito forced himself to keep a neutral poker face, mentally coaching himself not to react as thoughts of Aoko fluttered to the surface. "I'm afraid I'm unattached at the moment, My Lady."
Sonoko's eyes widened slightly in interest. "Oh?"
"But there is someone that I have my eye on," Kaito confessed with a fond smile.
"Oh?" Sonoko hummed.
Kaito shook his head. "But they're unavailable at the moment. They're slowly softening and warming up to me, though. It's just a matter of time, I think."
Sonoko shrugged and then crossed her legs and her arms in one fluid motion. "Lucky girl. I have a wonderful boyfriend already, otherwise I might be jealous."
Kaito chuckled lightly at Sonoko's assumptions about the gender of his intended. "No. I'm the lucky one. And yes, yes you do have a wonderful boyfriend. Very noble, very strong. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side again, so please refrain from becoming jealous. Honestly, you're better off without me."
"Why do you say that?" Sonoko raised an eyebrow as she scooted over, motioning for Kaito to sit down on the trunk beside her. "I mean…you're not a bad guy, even though you steal stuff."
Kaito got up from his kneeling position and took the proffered seat with a sigh. "More than that, it's about the stuff I'm mixed up in. You're right. I'm not a bad guy; I'm a vigilante. You've seen how at heists before I've exposed bigger, badder criminals. I steal to right wrongs and protect people, even though it's not apparent to the public at large. Not even the police know what I'm really doing. I'm one of the few people that knows about the danger out there, so it's my job to steal the items first and check them so that the thing that I'm looking for…that the real bad guys are looking for doesn't fall into the wrong hands."
Sonoko frowned as the pieces slowly fit together, unveiling the bigger picture. "Wait. Why don't you go to the police, Kid-sama? If there are bad people out there, then—"
"—This is bigger than the police, Sonoko-chan. It'd be too dangerous if they got involved. A lot of people would die, so it's better if I act on my own." His serious expression dissipated, and a bright, charming smile took its place. "Don't worry about it too much, Sonoko-chan. Everything is going to be alright. Some really smart, capable people are working on this with me. It's a secret operation, and it's going to succeed before long, so don't worry about it. Just leave it to me and my teammates."
"So…I can't tell anyone…since it's a secret operation, can I?" she deduced.
He nodded. "Just like my secret identity, you can't tell anyone about the secret operation either, okay?"
"Okay." She agreed, nodding in return. "I'll just believe in you, Kid-sama, believe that you really are taking care of things."
"Thanks for your faith, Sonoko-chan." Kid grinned with an encouraging wink.
There was a beat, and then Sonoko inquired, "Kid-sama, if you're not here to threaten me about keeping your identity a secret, then, why are you here? Most people don't just drop by a lady's bedroom at ten o'clock at night…. Respectable people, anyway."
"Well, it depends upon whom you ask, but there are people out there that would say that I'm not exactly a respectable person," Kaito chuckled. "But, honestly, the reason why I came here tonight was to check in with you. I kind of wanted the opportunity to explain myself, to give you a reason not to turn me in beyond the fact that I'm drop-dead gorgeous and you're a fan."
Sonoko nodded once more. "Fair enough."
"Have I made my case, My Lady?" Kaito asked hopefully.
She smiled and gave another nod. "Yeah. You don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone about you or your secret mission. I always knew you were like some kind of secret agent or something."
Kaito shrugged, smiling happily and not denying it. "Fabulous. I thank you, My Lady. And with that…I'm going to switch over and let my civilian identity speak with you for a while, if that's alright."
"Oh, by all means. Go right ahead," Sonoko urged, wondering what this other side to her idolized Kid-sama would be like.
Kaito closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let it out slowly like a deflating tire and opened his eyes once more. He gave her his own version of the charming smile and held out his hand to shake. "Hi. Sorry we weren't properly introduced before. I'm Kuroba Kaito…magician."
"Suzuki Sonoko, heiress," she announced, reaching out to take his hand. "Oh!" Suddenly she was holding an additional yellow rose.
"For you," Kaito chuckled, feeling much calmer now that they'd gotten the hard, awkward part out of the way. "Just don't tell your boyfriend. That old, clichéd line is true in my case. I really am a lover, not a fighter. It's a part of my alter ego's honor code."
"I won't tell him if you don't, Kid-sama," Sonoko giggled, admiring the thorn-less rose and twirling it in her fingers.
"I'm actually not Kid. You can go ahead and call me 'Kai-chan'. We'll need to refer to each other as 'Kai-chan' and 'Sonoko-chan' in front of other people since that's what we started calling each other in front of the group today. It'd be better to stay consistent so as not to arouse suspicion…especially not from Masumi-chan."
Sonoko's eyes went wide like honeydew melons. "Oh my God! You're Kid, but you and Sera-san are friends, but on that one heist Kid totally—"
"—Yeah," Kaito sighed, cutting her off. "Yeah. Thanks. I remember what happened at the one heist between Kid and Masumi-chan, so obviously you understand why I don't want her knowing about Kid's true identity."
Sonoko nodded, eyes wide in a mix of sadistic awe and reverent horror. "Sera-san would pummel you into an icky, pasty glob."
"Yeah," Kaito mumbled. "Again. You can see why I don't want her to know until I've had the chance to talk to her about it…maybe once all of this is over. You see, most detectives aren't as reasonable as you, Sonoko-chan. They badger you and hound you until you tell them why this and why that. Why, why, why?" As a bit of an aside, Kaito muttered under his breath, "Hakuba's especially bad. 'Why did you eat the last of the chocolate covered chocolate o's?' Because I was hungry. 'Why didn't you call me after the heist to let me know you were okay?' I was kind of treating my wounds and a little loopy on pain killers. 'Why do you always have to flirt with women like that? It's unbecoming!' I'm not flirting; I'm just trying to brighten people's days. Geez," Kaito mumbled.
Sonoko burst into a fit of giggles and made owl eyes at Kaito. "You and Hakuba-kun…you guys are, you know, right?"
Kaito blinked and inclined his head slightly to the right, pretending that he had no idea what she was talking about. "Hm?"
"You know," Sonoko stressed. "You two are, like, an item, right? You're secretly dating?"
Kaito could no longer hold in his laughter at the fangirl's assumptions. "Yes and hell no. I'm his boyfriend in every sense but the actual physical relationship…sort of." Kaito gave a wry grin. "He doesn't love me like he loves Masumi-chan, so we're not exactly like that, but we've got our own brand of bromance going on. …Is that disappointing? I happen to know that you ship us. I've seen the doujinshi."
Sonoko's face went bloody Mary red as she shook her head. Her mouth flapped open and closed as she tried to get out some kind of denial, any excuse she could think of.
And Kaito just laughed, reassuringly patting her knee. "It's fine. It's fine. Though, in my honest opinion, Haku-chan would be seme most of the time, though you are right that we'd be reversible."
After blinking repeatedly and letting what Kaito had said sink in, Sonoko replied in incredulity, "Seriously?!"
"Mmhm," Kaito chuckled. "And it would be more realistic to draw me on top even when I'm the uke, like, cowgirl style. I've never quite made it that far with anyone yet, but I don't think I'd like being pinned down underneath someone."
Sonoko nodded vigorously, hanging on Kaito's every word and mentally taking notes. "Anything else, Kid-sama?"
"It's 'Kaito' at the moment," the magician gently reminded. "Or 'Kai-chan'. You should probably get used to calling me 'Kai-chan'; inconsistencies like that could blow our cover."
"Right," she agreed quickly, jotting down a mental reminder. "Right…Kai-chan…." She bit her lip as she muttered it a few times to herself. "You know…Kai-chan… You're kind of different. Really chill. I mean, most people when confronting the person that had made a doujin about them participating in explicit, homosexual activities, wouldn't lead in with the logistics of the artwork. They wouldn't, like, critique it and offer constructive criticism or anything. Most people would be adamantly denying that they were gay or something."
Kaito shrugged, putting his hands down behind him and leaning back. "Well, I'm not gay…. I'm bi. Mostly I prefer women, but…there was one girl in particular that I had my heart set on, and…" Kaito forced himself to keep up his easy smile and cheery demeanor. "I couldn't be the man she deserved, so…and I'm not interested in other women just yet so soon after her…but there's this guy that I've recently decided to get serious about."
Sonoko's brow furrowed all the more as he continued to speak, going from mild surprise and confusion to deep concern. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked quietly.
Kaito's smile softened. "Kid's not real you know. He's just a persona, a character inside of my head that I take out every now and again when he's needed. Behind the top hat and the monocle, I'm a flesh and blood person with normal people problems. There's a lot of crap going on in my life, and in order for you to actually get to know me, I kind of have to share about stuff like that. You know. So you can get to know Kuroba Kaito and not just Kid."
Kaito's smile turned impish. "Besides. With my mom always out of town or even out of the country, I've got no one to talk about boys with," he snickered. "Masumi-chan isn't very well-versed on romance, so she's kind of out. I don't have anyone to do the whole girl talk thing with, so I'm kind of hoping that we can hurry up and become real friends."
Sonoko couldn't help but laugh in wonder at this new side of her idol that she was discovering. "Wow. You're awesome, Kai-chan. Sera-san was right. You really are easy to like. I can tell we're gonna be fast friends."
"I look forward to it," Kaito chuckled, proud of his quick work.
They spent the next hour and a half chatting and giggling in soft whispers and dimmed lighting so as not to alert the rest of the household to Kaito's presence there.
They moved over to the sofa and talked about the latest fashions coming out the next year. They discussed shoes and accessories and had a serious debate over makeup application techniques and brands.
After that they proceeded to movies and actors, musicians and music. Kaito had more varied tastes than Sonoko, but they could both appreciate beautiful idols and cute boy bands.
A lot of Sonoko's interests were superficial things like fashion and hot guys, but she was really serious about it. She told him all about how she wanted to be a fashion designer with her own line someday.
She wasn't a complicated person, but she was sincere. She was a typical, carefree, teenage girl, and that was okay. It was actually kind of refreshing for Kaito to hang out with someone who wasn't holding some terrible secret or running from some dark past. It was a nice change of pace.
"So what kind of guys do you like, Kai-chan?" Sonoko giggled in a hushed tone as the clock on her nightstand inched closer to midnight.
"Straight ones, apparently," Kaito sighed, burying his face in one of the champagne pink throw pillows. "Ones that are already practically married."
Sonoko patted his knee comfortingly. "Who would have thought that the great Kaitou Kid's alter ego would ever have trouble in love?"
"I know, right?" Kaito pouted, putting the throw pillow down.
"But you said that there was someone in particular?" Sonoko inclined her head slightly to the side, hoping to get in on the juicy gossip.
Kaito bit his lip, debating for a moment before he smirked toothily. "You can't tell a soul."
"I swear," she eagerly promised, crossing her heart and holding her breath.
Kaito leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Kudo Shinichi."
Sonoko pulled back and stared in absolute disbelief at her new friend. "No. Way. No way! Like, Ran's Shinichi?"
"Yeah," Kaito hung his head with a sigh.
"What could someone as unbelievably awesome as you possibly see in a huge geek like that?!" Sonoko couldn't help but shriek in indignation.
"Shh! Not so loud," Kaito reminded, clamping his hand over her mouth.
They sat there, unmoving, in absolute silence, listening for sounds of movement. After a full minute or so of hearing none, Kaito released Sonoko, and they heaved twin sighs of relief.
Sonoko fixed him with that incredulous look once more and demanded, quietly this time, "What could you possibly see in Kudo Shinichi?"
Kaito smiled self-consciously, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. He shrugged. "He's seriously cute. I mean, he acts like a sourpuss, but…he's really nice. At least he can be. He's rude to me, and he calls me names and pretends that I'm just an obnoxious pain in his side, but…it's mostly just an act. He really does understand me, so… Real relationships are about taking the bad with the good, and the good things about him far outnumber the little things like how he's super dense when it comes to love and how he gets all distracted by cases and runs off to solve them and how he's not good at saying what he really means, how he really feels."
"You seriously think that he has good qualities that outweigh his annoying Holmes habit?" Sonoko asked skeptically.
"I like listening to him talk about his cases and his favorite mystery series and all of that," Kaito chuckled. "You should see the way his eyes light up, Sonoko-chan, how happy he is. It's beautiful."
Sonoko smiled sadly in pity at the magician. "You're pretty far gone on him aren't you? Oh, Kai-chan." She shook her head, wishing that there was something she could do for him. "You do know that it's never gonna happen, right? I mean…Ran is…" She pursed her lips. "Look, I don't want to be mean, but I don't want you pining after some guy that it'll never work with. I don't want you getting hurt."
Kaito pulled his knees into his chest and sighed, a forlorn smile gracing his own lips. "It's okay, Sonoko-chan. I know. I'm okay with waiting just on the off chance that things don't work out between Shinichi and Mouri-chan."
"How can you wait for someone like that?" Sonoko asked in exasperation. "Seriously, Kai-chan, you could have anyone. You're wasted just sitting around waiting for that mystery geek."
"But I've only ever wanted Aoko," Kaito whispered. "I'm not really interested in anyone else."
"Then why Kudo-kun?" It still wasn't making any sense to the heiress.
Kaito bit his lip and looked up into Sonoko's eyes, meeting her questioning gaze. "Sonoko-chan, I'm seriously messed up. I'm so broken that I…" Kaito's voice cracked as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "Look, I was determined that Aoko would be the only person that I would ever love, that I would die alone rather than betray my feeling for her, but…when I'm with Shinichi, he makes me feel like maybe my heart isn't dead after all. He makes me feel better, so…even if he can never feel the same way about me, I want to wait for him, just hang out and be friends. Even if I can never be special to him, I still want to be around him. I don't want to go back to feeling dead and empty on the inside. I like the way I feel when I'm with him, so…I want to wait for Shinichi. Does that…does that make any sense?" Kaito tentatively asked, worried that he sounded like a lovesick fool, blathering on like that.
"Oh, Kai-chan!" Sonoko wailed, launching herself at the thief and knocking him over onto his back. She wrapped her arms around him like the tentacles of a giant squid as she cried and nuzzled the poor soul.
"S-Sonoko-chan?!" Kaito sputtered as he was unexpectedly pinned down and crushed in her embrace. "Whoa! What are you—?!"
"—Kai-chan, that's it! You don't have to worry about a thing!" Sonoko proclaimed, keeping a tight hold on the squirming magician. "We're gonna snatch that mystery geek for you! We're gonna make him see how awesome you are, and he's gonna fall in love with you so hard that he breaks every bone in his body! It's gonna happen!"
Kaito paused in his escape attempts to blink owlishly at her. "What?"
Sonoko fixed him with a very serious expression from where she sat perched on top of him and explained once more. "Kai-chan, I'm going to help you get Shinichi-kun."
Kaito stared, blinked twice, and then inquired, "But what about Mouri-chan? You're her best friend, and she's in love with Shinichi too."
Sonoko rolled her eyes, climbing off of Kaito and allowing the boy to get up. "Forget about all that. All that guy has ever done is give Ran grief. He's stopped calling her, and we haven't seen the jerk in, like, a year, and even when he is around, he just leads her on and shakes her up before disappearing again." Sonoko clenched her teeth as her nails dug into her palms and her face turned beet red. "God, the guy doesn't even know how much she cries over him. She used to be so strong, but lately she's been so down in the dumps! He's completely ruined my best friend, and he doesn't even care enough to get his ass back here and make it up to her, the slug. He doesn't deserve my Ran," Sonoko snorted.
Kaito bit his tongue. He wanted to explain it all to Sonoko. He wanted to snap at her for saying bad things about Shinichi. He wanted to tell her, "He does know, and he does care, and it's killing him on the inside seeing her like this!" But he knew that it wouldn't do anyone any good.
"Ran needs to find a real boyfriend anyway," Sonoko continued, this time more composed. "I'll talk to her, give her a little nudge, introduce her to some nice guys. She's been having her doubts recently anyway. I'll just give her that last little push that she needs to go in the right direction."
"I can't ask you to do that," Kaito quietly objected. "I never meant to break them up. I can wait. I mean… I don't want to steal him from her. I just…I don't want to hurt Shinichi."
Sonoko smiled softly at him, giving his knee a reassuring pat. "Kai-chan, this isn't entirely for your sake. He's hurting my friend. I've got to do this for Ran's sake too. I've been meaning to seriously talk with her for a long time, so…you've just given me the resolve to do something. She's probably going to get mad at me and live in denial about it for a while, but…I just can't stand by and watch anymore. Ran is one of the most important people in the world to me, and I love her like a sister. I don't want to see her all sad and lifeless anymore. Shinichi-kun's been gone for almost three years. I think it's time for her to cut her loses and find a new guy. We can't all have that picturesque childhood friend romance. In real life, things don't always play out like in the movies. Sometimes people grow apart and move on without each other. We've all just got to do our best to hang on and find happiness however we can, right?" Sonoko winked with a sad smile.
Kaito nodded. "Okay. If you truly think that it's for the best. Mouri-chan is a sweet girl, and she really does deserve to be happy, so…if she really is hurting that badly…made it's for the best after all, but…but Shinichi—!"
"—You take care of Shinichi-kun then," Sonoko suggested. "From the way you were talking, it sounds like he saved you, so if you think the loss of Ran is going to hit him so hard, why don't you just save him?"
Gradually a tentative smile bloomed on Kaito's lips. He chuckled softly, and the laugh even managed to reach his eyes. "Thanks, Sonoko-chan. You see, this is why I came to you. This is why I decided to trust you with my secret. You care so much about your friends. You'd do anything for them. You're seriously one of the best friends ever, and that's why I wanted to be your friend too."
Sonoko blushed, smiling proudly as she waved away his compliments. "Oh, stop. You're too much, Kai-chan!"
"Seriously," Kaito insisted as he laughed, leaning in. "Seriously. Thank you."
"You're welcome," she returned with a giddy giggle.
"Hey. There's one more thing that I want to ask your help on, Love Goddess Sonoko-chan."
Sonoko veritably cackled at this. "Oh, God! I love it! Sure, Kai-chan. Go ahead. What is it?"
Kaito smiled conspiratorially, putting his feelings about his own romance on the shelf as he focused on other, more pressing matters. "Sonko-chan, my best friend Hakuba Saguru has a crush on our mutual friend Sera Masumi."
Sonoko's eyes widened in excitement, and she began to share in Kaito's scheming grin. "Go on."
"Well, Haku-chan's so cute and awkward and shy, and Masumi-chan's…you've met the girl," Kaito sighed.
Sonoko crossed her arms and nodded knowingly. "Yes. Yes I have. She's totally lost when it comes to love. She has spoken to Ran and me about Hakuba-kun before, though, so I'm kind of familiar with the situation. What did you need from me, Kai-chan?"
"I would like to bring you in as the backup. I've been working with her on her wardrobe and trying to pin down how exactly she feels about the guy, but if you two could have some conversations about things, I think it'd be helpful for her if she could talk to a real girl about stuff like that instead of just an honorary one."
Sonoko nodded eagerly. "Yeah. Of course. Of course I'll talk with her."
"And if you could talk about fashion and stuff too? I mean, don't try to make her wear frilly dresses and tons of makeup or anything, but if you could open her up to the idea of dressing a little more feminine, that would be cool. I also need to take her shopping for some new clothes and teach her how to walk in high heels, so if you're available for either of those adventures, it'd help me out a great deal to have you on board."
"Done and done!" Sonoko sang. "I'd love to go on a shopping spree! …And she doesn't know how to walk in heels?"
Kaito shook his head sadly. "She grew up with two overprotective older brothers. The girl needs some balance if she's ever going to feel like she's fit to be with Saguru. The point of all this isn't to change her," Kaito explained. "She's fine the way she is. We just need to give her some additional knowledge and some confidence in herself as a woman. You know. So that she'll feel comfortable going to fancy dinners with him and dressing up and meeting important people. I think one of the main things that's holding her back is her insecurity.
"She feels like they're in different leagues when it comes to social standing. He's the son of the Superintendent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. He's in line to inherit a business and a royal title. To her, he feels like some distant Prince Charming, far away in a castle. We've got to be the fairy godmothers that transform this Cinderella into a fitting bride."
Sonoko nodded in wholehearted agreement. "She's got the right stuff. All she needs is a ball gown…and maybe some cotillion lessons."
"Are you up to dressing her up and teaching her which fork to eat salad with?" Kaito asked with a smile.
Sonoko returned the grin. "You can count on me!" she chuckled. "This is going to be so much fun!"
…
Mikau: This was the chapter from hell. I just got so stuck. Seriously. Kaito just looked at me and hissed, "What am I doing here?! What the hell do you want me to say to her?!" And I didn't know what to tell him for the longest time. Finally, though, I just said, "She's a girl. You're an honorary girl. Talk about girly things! You never get to do that, so…I don't know! What do girls talk about?" And then Kaito squealed, "Oh! Boys! Clothes and boys!" And then Sonoko and Kaito were instant best friends. Seriously. Kaito tells me that they're having a sleepover next Saturday so that they can stay up late and do each other's nails. I told him, "Yeah. You have fun with that." Anyway, I'm really, really happy with how this turned out, even though it was seriously hellish to get out at first. I hope you had even half the fun reading it that I did writing it. Have a great week guys!