Author's note: I told you I would update this series rapidly. (Not that rapidly, you think, yeah, well…) And just so you know, I am quite aware that this particular scheme about this particular couple has been visited and revisited a thousand times by the authors of this fandom, but this is my own version. Just because I've yearned to do it for centuries now.
Warnings: Slight, very slight swearing. Barely a line, really. And definitely fluff enough to make your brain explode.
Disclaimer: I don't own Magic Kaito. But it owns me. That's all that there is.
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Blue Child: Beautiful
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I see,
Looking for yourself tonight
And I know,
Gonna sell your soul under the lights…
It was raining down. Buckets.
No one sensible would dare adventure themselves under such a tempest, Kaito thought, looking out into the night from his armchair by the window. Lightening sometimes streaked past through the dark, looming clouds, like a dragon of gold in fire, pushing past its way in the sky before disappearing. And thunder rolled heavily, massively, threateningly, shaking the world. It would be madness to go under the deluge.
And yet the doorbell rang.
He laid Arsene Lupin aside on a tablet and got up to answer it. As he went, his well-trained mind instinctively went through the possibilities, finding it the most logical reason that somebody had been surprised by the storm and wanted shelter. But when he opened the door and found himself face to face with a drenched Aoko, glaring at him through her bangs, the idea plummeted into non-significance.
He paused, laying his hand on top of the doorframe. "Aoko? What's going o—"
She didn't even let him finish his question. "Kaito," she cut in abruptly, "am I pretty?"
"What?" He stared for a bit, then decided that a dry Aoko was better than a soaked Aoko – and all the more likely to be in a better mood, if anything – and grabbed her wrist to drag her inside. "Come on in; we can't stay on the landing. People will start thinking I'm some kind of deranged person – they already have suspicions…"
She shook away from his grip and walked past the hall and into the kitchen by the time he closed the door and locked it. He looked the way she had just disappeared, but detoured by the bathroom to fetch a towel before he followed her there.
"Here," he said, handing it to her; she was standing on the other side of the table, fists clenched by her sides, wet hair falling into her eyes. Her head was tilted down. "Get dry." She took it with numb fingers, looked at it a second, then laid it aside. Her eyes lifted back to him, deep blue through the dark black locks dripping on her face.
And I hear,The emptiness that echoes in your cries
Someday,
I pray that you will finally realize.
"You didn't answer my question," she said. There was this kind of funny look on her features again, fearing and yearning and furious together, as if desperate. "Answer me, Kaito. Please."
He sighed. "Where does this come from exactly? You show up on my doorstep, drenched to the bone, and start asking silly questions…" She shuddered, and he skirted round the table, worried, but she stepped back when he reached out for her. He could see her chin and lips trembling, and he wasn't sure that was from cold.
"Answer me, Kaito," she insisted, in a voice that was definitely shaking. "Am I pretty?"
"Aoko…" he paused, searching for words that wouldn't break her down. "You're beautiful."
He couldn't have missed his aim farther away. His head was flung to the side, and his cheek burned, before he actually realized she had just slapped him. "Don't just tell me what I WANT to hear!" she yelled, and as he looked back at her bewilderedly he caught a glimpse of terrified blue eyes before she turned away and fled into the living-room.
He laid his hand on the table for support, touching his aching cheek. She'd slapped him with all her strength; there'd been no restraint in her gesture. She'd meant it wholeheartedly… his fist slammed down on the table and he followed her into the living-room.
She was standing with her back at him, arms folded, but when he came in she turned to him, angry eyes defying him to complain, to dodge the question with one of his usual evasions. A long tear, which she hadn't had time to wipe away and didn't even bother to deny, had left a dark streak on her cheek.
You're beautiful,
That's all that I can say
Unforgettable,
I'm caught in every way.
He didn't care for long speeches about trust or friendship – he grabbed her wrist again and seated her forcefully on the sofa, drawing a chair for him to sit on opposite. "Now," he said in that kind of voice which allows no refusal, "you are going to tell me. Everything. And you're not going to hide a thing. Understood?"
She tried to hold the gaze for a second, then failed. Her head bent down again, and it was in this position, hair falling in her face and eyes hidden, that she began to speak. "I – (sniff) it was beginning to rain… and I was, you know, hurrying home, because they'd announced a storm and my dad's not at home tonight… and then I – I met girls from our college, and they started speaking about you, and what a hot chick you were, and how stupid I was to think you even considered me as a friend…"
Kaito stiffened. Aoko didn't notice.
"Because 'Kuroba-kun' would evidently want a much more sexy girl than I was, of course, well, admitting I was a girl, which they weren't so sure of since you say yourself all the time that I'm a boy—"
"Damn," he muttered, but she didn't hear him.
"And so they… they laughed when I said we weren't dating, and they said, of course we weren't, Kuroba-kun wouldn't even look at me like a woman, why would you consider me as a potential girlfriend," she was talking faster and faster, and he could see now the tears running unchecked down her cheeks, into her mouth, "you'd want a girl who would at least be pretty, like them, and one of them said she was going to ask you out tomorrow, and she was certain you'd say yes since she was the head of your most influent fanclub – can you believe that?" she gasped with a short, rasping, joyless laugh, "you having fanclubs? You needn't be jealous of KID…"
She stopped suddenly and burst into fresh tears.
Don't ever let the mirror tell you liesJust look at your reflection through my eyes
"Aoko…" He tried placing his hand on her shoulder, but she was shaking so hard it was useless. She didn't even feel him. She was lost to the world. Sighing, he stood up and walked to the window, watching out into the night; he could still hear her muffled voice stammering behind him.
"They started making comparisons…. they were talking about you…. not pretty…. what can I do about it…. I came here running, I couldn't think of anywhere else to go…. I'm sorry I slapped you…. didn't mean to…. these girls…. don't know what to do…. Kaito…"
You're beautiful."Aoko." He'd turned back to her and was leaning over to her; she gasped, started, and looked up at him with eyes so blue it hurt. "This isn't the first time this kind of thing occurs, is it?"
She looked caught out. "N-no…" she admitted, dipping her head. "H-how – how do you ?"
"I just know you too well," he sighed. "You wouldn't be in such a state if this hadn't happened… many, many times before. How long did they torment you like that? Weeks? Months? And you never told me?"
A small, hesitant, still sad smile fought its way up on her lips. "K-kaito, how do you always d-do that?"
It was his turn to be surprised. "Do what?"
"Read my thoughts like you do…" She took a deep breath, trying to dry her eyes. "B-but… what if they were r-right? What if I really was ugly? I know I'm not exactly G-god's gift to men, b-but… am I really such a tomboy?" She had got up, fidgeting, wringing her hands nervously.
"You always tell me I look like a b-boy – but I thought it was only teasing… b-but those… girls… they said that… they said that…"
It was really too bad. She was standing there saying nonsense, and what with the deep blue eyes the tears were shining through, the black hair running wet and locks dripping on her face, the rosy lips quivering over her words, the soaked clothes outlining her curves maybe a little more than was absolutely necessary – she was the most beautiful sight he'd ever beheld.
It seems,
You always keep one foot outside the door
So sad,
You gotta all but still you long for more.
"Aoko, stop it," he murmured, laying both his hands on her shoulders. He intended to shake them a little, but she looked caught enough, trying to wipe her tears with the palm of her hand. "You're not going to let a couple of sluts grind you down that way, hear me?"
"But…"
"Aoko, you're not ugly simply because they told you so! Damn it, you're stronger than this! Where's the Aoko I know, who'd laugh at them like they're just dirt – that's what they are, not you, understood? Where's my Aoko, who'd fling her mop at them and then at me because it'd be my fault if I'm saying you're boy-like?"
The speech seemed to wake her a little – but not in the good way, he realized. A sort of determined look settled on her face, the one she had when she started arguing. "But – I've never dated anyone – girls like them have had a dozen boyfriends since middle school – I've never even kissed anyone!" That small, joyless laugh again, bitter and self-derisory. "Can you believe it? Nineteen-years-old and I've never been kissed… I guess I really must scare those guys off, uh…"
"Aoko." She looked up at him and froze; his calm voice had let nothing see through of the anger in his eyes, and the coldness in it was perhaps worse than its shouting tones from a moment ago. "You must stop thinking like that. I said you were beautiful – and I meant it. I didn't say it to please you; it was the truth. True, it isn't the same kind of beauty this kind of girls claim – but theirs is made-up. It isn't real. Yours is."
"But… Kaito…"
"I don't care what they said. I trust what I see – and what I see is one very beautiful girl."
"Then PROVE it!" she shouted. It was so sudden he jumped. "Prove it to me that I'm beautiful! Can you? Just prove it if you're so certain of it!"
And you cry,
So desperate for your place among the stars
But why,
Searching for what you already are.
He looked at her, taken aback. Arms folded, she was glaring at him with a kind of mingled triumph and despair – she knew she'd won, she knew he'd never be able to prove anything like that, and yet she yearned to hear it out, to be proved wrong. Her eyes were shining, no longer with tears but with anger – which meant she didn't believe him. Which meant there was no way to get her out of this but to shock her out of it. Which meant…
He advanced on her swiftly, in one of those cat moves which were the life and soul of his tag games with the Kid Task Force, and pinned her against the couch's back, pressing his hands on the cushion on each side of her so that there was no escape way. She tried to step back, eyes wide looking at him.
You're beautiful, That's all that I can say. Unforgettable, I'm caught in every way."Kaito… what are you doing—"
"Proving a point." He crashed his lips against hers.
A gasp, a glimpse of shocked blue before her eyes fluttered shut, and he let himself close his as well. Savour of the moment. She writhed a second against him, hands clenching into fists in his shirt, but, relaxing, he felt her tilt her head to the left, accompanying the kiss, and he lifted one hand to her hair, to exert a slight pressure there, to keep them going towards that brand-new, unexpected, fabulous direction.
There was one hell of a difference between dreaming to kiss Aoko and actually doing it. And the difference was Aoko herself, Aoko pressed against his chest, the feel of her body and the scent in her neck, Aoko gasping to get a breathe of air, Aoko moaning against his mouth without his knowing what it was she wanted: stopping, or going on. Out of doubt, he made to move back, lips parting one half-second, the time of a heartbeat, but she pulled him in again without hesitation, with only reticence at the thought that maybe he shouldn't want it anymore. It wouldn't do to let her think this – he dived back into the delights of her mouth, further and further still.
Don't ever let the mirror tell you liesJust look at your reflection through my eyes
You're beautiful…
It was heaven. He was ecstatic. Suddenly he slid one arm around her waist and spun round, lifting her feet right off the floor in his enthusiasm, and he felt her hands wound around his neck, though whether it was in order to not fall off or deepen the kiss, he couldn't say. He kept her high as long as he could, knowing that when he'd let her delicately down, he'd have to cut the kiss.
When it eventually happened, he felt her hand on his cheek at the moment their lips reluctantly parted; it slid down onto his chest as she looked up at him, oh god that blue again… fearful and beautiful.
"Kaito…" his name was the mere trickle of voice. "You're… you're pulling my leg, aren't you?"
Feeling your stars are drafted away from meBack to the empty place you used to be
How do I get to you…
Whatever he'd thought she'd say then, it wasn't this. "What?"
"There's no way you'd want me… is there?" Oh, no. Please let it not be so – let her not doubt this, not now. If anything was the truth – if anything ever was true about him – it was this, this and nothing else. But if she started to doubt it, she would never come to believe it, even if he said it loud enough for her to hear it in full.
To you…….
His hands slid down to hers as he sat backwards onto the couch and she stood before him, not trying to escape his grip. "Why not? Because of those girls who insulted you? Or simply because you don't want me that way?"
That's all that I can say.
And this was the choice, he thought, the choice he'd never expected to see happening that way: he was presenting his greatest weakness to her on a silver plate, striping away all the defences he'd carefully brought up over the years; a taste from her lips had sufficed to bring them all down.
"It's not like that!" she protested, shaking her head. She looked like she was on the verge of tears again. "But it's… it's so… it's just not possible. Look at who you are – a magician, everybody loves you, everybody admires you, you could challenge Kaito KID with your tricks – and I – I'm just breaking up the legend with my mop. I'm just the little crack in the glass, the little thing that can bring it all down…"
The only weak flank, Kaito thought. The only one who could keep him on the sanity side. But that, for now, she needn't know.
You're beautiful, That's all that I can say. Unforgettable,I'm caught in every way.
He gave her arms just a small jerk and leant backwards onto the couch to receive her in his arms. She gasped and immediately straightened up, her hands pressing on his shoulders and legs on each side of him; she looked lovely in that position. He smiled, bringing one arm behind his head.
"So?"
"Uh?" she looked thoroughly confused.
"So what if I am a magician? What if I like spotlights? What if I like showing off? How could that prevent me from loving you?" he said easily. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened, and a light flush pinked her cheekbones prettily.
"But – but…"
"Let me tell you something." He straightened up, too, so that they were face to face and she was sitting on his legs. "A magician, no matter how skilled, is nothing when not assisted by an accomplice. Someone backstage, who works out the tricks – holds the ropes." He caressed her cheek softly. "And you've known how to hold the ropes of my heart for a long time now."
Don't ever let the mirror tell you liesJust look at your reflection through my eyes
You're beautiful…
"Kaito…"
"But Aoko – my Aoko – my lovely, temperamental, beautiful Aoko – what do you want? I'm yours – always been, and it's not likely to change." He was burning all his boats one after the other, but it was worth it. It was all worth it. "What do you want?"
"I—" she hesitated for a second, then bumped gently their foreheads together, "I want you. I've never wanted anyone but you. I—"
But Kaito cut her sentence short, and she never needed to finish it.
You're beautiful…-
This is a special, just-in-time dedication to anaime7. Happy b-day, hon! Many wishes to you!The song's 'Beautiful', by Nick Lachley. I thought it fitted just perfect. For anyone who actually wonders, reviews still are the sunshine of my days :)