"Sometimes I can't help but wonder what you're thinking."

The evening glow glistened on the river streaming beside the meadow path, shining red hues on Aoko's silhouette as the sun set behind her on their way home, so long ago.

Kaito watched as she stood there, gripping the strap of her bag as the gentle breeze carried her voice along with the wind.

"I hate Kid. You know, I do," her voice seemed a breath away from his ear. He held still, suddenly blinded by the bright light from the evening sun. He's the only person I cannot forgive."

Kaito parted his lips, struggling for words, watching as strands of her hair rose and fell in front of her eyes that were misted and indecipherable.

"So, why Kaito?"

Gravel and sand crushed underneath her shoes and her silhouette became clearer with each step she took, and soon he could recognise the red tinge on her nose, the crescent moons overshadowing the natural shade of her skin as her tousled hair swayed in front of her face.

"Why did you do this to me?"it was whisper, maybe even fainter. Kaito strained his ears to catch her voice, even as her breath prickled his skin and burned him under its touch.

"Didn't you promised you'll make this alright?"

No, I – the darkened glint in her half-lidden eyes knocked him out of air, robbing him out of breath and his own voice along with it as though her hands were coiling over his throat even though she had placed her hand on his shoulder. Her proximity carried the scent of vanilla with something underneath that was pungent enough to slam a fist into his gut, and for a moment Kaito could feel the blackened residue of gun powder sticking on his fingers.

"You know, I—"

Aoko leaned forward, her voice, faint and breathless, as she grabbed a fistful of his uniform, keeping herself upright as the strength in her legs waned, even as the warm liquid trickled out of her wound dyed the white fabric of his shirt as red as the inside of his skin, drenching his fingers as he kept her from falling when her knees buckled under her weight.

"I hate liars like you the most."

.

.

.

"Botchama, wake up. It's time." Kōnosuke hummed despite being sleep ridden. He had woken up earlier than usual today to spend his early morning hours to catch up with the young man before it was time to head to school.

The young master had arrived at the evening from the day before, but decidedly fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him whilst Kōnosuke saw his last costumers out the door and locked up his store for the night.

Knowing how fatigued Kaito had been, struggling to sleep as troubled as he was. For Kōnosuke it felt only right to let the younger catch up on sleep and left him as he was, aside from the added blanket (knowing that Kaito would have startled out of his sleep had he placed a pillow under his head since he was a relatively light sleeper).

"Come on. It's time to wake up."

The elderly man tugged the duvet away, but that the younger had a habit of burrowing deep underneath the covers, and so he had only managed to reveal Kaito's face from the covers. But Kōnosuke wasn't particularly preoccupied with that, rather he was too focused on noticing the faint trails of tears on Kaito's cheeks, the furrowed brows on his forehead, and his face which was covered in a thin sheet of sweat.

"Wake up," Kōnosuke said firmer, wiping his tears and sweat with the handkerchief he pulled out from his pocket. "Wake up, Botchama."

Kaito made a noise from the back of his throat before he sat up, dishevelled and confused, glancing around the room until his gaze landed on Kōnosuke. — "Oh."

"Oh, yourself – it's 'good morning' to me." Kōnosuke muttered as he passed the young master a cup of oolong tea that he prepared beforehand. Kaito stared at the beverage for a good minute before he took the first sip, and from that alone the elder knew something was up.

A bad dream of sorts never had affected Kaito considerably much. After all, the young man had the tendency to forget his dreams minutes after he woke up—

"Liars don't tend to be admired, do they?"

Excuse me? Typically, Kōnosuke would have answered Kaito's random morning rumblings with a simply startled sound from the back of his throat, followed-up with sigh that foretold the elder's fortunate regret for having grown out of touch with the younger generation and their strange desire to dip their little toe in philosophical discussions only to squeal and run back to resume their usual surface level conversation from their favourite position on their armchair that they secretly stole from the licensed therapist next door. However, as startled as Kōnosuke was at Kaito's sudden conversation starter, he decided to run with it this time, hoping a little back-and-forwards would distract the young man enough to allow his mind to unload his unpleasant dream into the trash can. "Of course not. It's not admirable characteristic to have. But I'm certain you knew that."

"Of course, I knew that. it's just…" Kaito trailed off, and the elder was certain he wasn't entirely sure how to voice the thoughts plaguing his mind into words, and so he left him a moment of silent thought, and held back a sigh when Kaito chose to hide behind a long sip from his cup, seemingly deciding to leave matters be for now as he was currently (most likely) concocting a sure certain way to steer the conversation to another direction entirely.

"Getting cold feet, are you?" Kōnosuke said, from the way Kaito averted his gaze, he hit the nail on its head. "It's not surprising at all. The last heist had wrought a large share of misfortune. Now that Oku-sama is on the verge of being arrested, I'm certain you're more than nervous. But it's in times like these you must never forget your—"

"Poker face – yes, I know that Jii-chan." Kaito interrupted, ready to put the conversation on hold, but Kōnosuke wasn't someone who would change gears just because some youngling was increasingly uncomfortable to confront the truth slinking away in his heart.

"Since you know that so well, I'm certain you've realised that you will have to face her some time soon."

"Face who?"

"Face you know who," Kōnosuke pointed out, knowing where the younger's thoughts were heading. He took off his glasses and wiped them with the ends of his shirt. "You know, Kaito, running away from reality isn't going to make it better."

"I didn't say I was—"

"Then, are you assuming that just because you're Kaito, she's going to be okay with it?"

"No—"

"Then why do you keep acting as though Aoko would still save your hide even after knowing you're Kid?"

Kaito bit the inside of his cheeks, and pointedly stared into his cup to avoid the elder's probing stare. Kōnosuke was sure it wasn't the first time it came to his attention. The young man had a knack for coming up with all sorts of worst-case scenarios, using that particular skills to his advantage to plan several heists of different calibre, and seemingly this situation was no different. If the elder's thought process was correct, then Kaito's childhood friend would sadly find herself in the same position as all the other variables Kaito kept an eye on and controlled accordingly as he prepared his heists. But knowing Kaito's current state, a part of Kōnosuke couldn't help but wonder whether the young mad any intension of doing so, and perhaps rather felt more at ease for Aoko to do as she pleased as a way of atonement. And if this was the case, Kōnosuke couldn't let it happen at any cost.

"The sooner you prepare yourself the better." Kōnosuke reminded him. "If Aoko has ever been genuine in her hatred for Kid, then you should, first and foremost, see her as your enemy – no matter how close you were beforehand."

"Jii-chan—"

"Kaito," Kōnosuke was firm in his rebuttal. "If she shows any kind of hostility then we have to move her out of the picture. You know what that means, don't you?"

Kaito averted his gaze, remaining silent, but the elder knew Kaito could read the fine prints as well as he could, even if he didn't necessarily express it—

"It won't come to that. I'll make sure it won't." Kaito said, at last, startling Kōnosuke out of his thoughts, who realised with a sinking heart that the younger still had trouble considering that possibility.

The elder sighed and took of his glasses, looking Kaito clearing in the eyes even though his face was more pixilated than usual. "And you're saying this because you're confident in this plan of yours?"

"Yeah," was Kaito's sole reply, after all the younger had to be confident to grasp this tiny possibility to come out of this mess as unscathed as he possibly could despite the odds stacked against him. However, Kōnosuke was still not convinced whether that tiny possibility was worth risking their entire lives they have worked hard to build… "Your plan isn't fool proof. It has issues much like the one before it. I'd much rather have you lay low and let the situation sort itself out—"

"We can't do that, Jii-chan." Kaito reminded him. "I'm pretty sure Nakamori is already on our throats. We can't waste any more time, sitting around and twiddling our thumbs."

"Sometimes sitting around and letting the situation pass by is the best strategy."

"Even when the circumstantial evidence right now is enough to lock mum up at any moment?"

"Kaito, why the haste?" Kōnosuke asked, becoming more aware that there was more to the matter than simple restlessness. Even though the young master only skirted around the subject, Kōnosuke was slowly becoming certain there was something Kaito hasn't told him, and the elderly man wouldn't be called Kōnosuke if he didn't get to the bottom of this. "You know as well as I do that those officers cannot conjure evidence out of thin air. There's nothing to worry about. We can let time take its course and—"

"We can't," Kaito placed his cup on the table and Kōnosuke realised the cup was still half full. "As long as Snake knows I'm Kid, we can't rest easy." At Kōnosuke's puzzled frown Kaito elaborated. "I'm not sure how he did it, but Snake has figured me out. Ever since I visited the gallery with Nakamori for the first time, he has kept an eye on me."

There was a brief pause before the elder asked. "How much does he know?"

"He definitely knows my face. But I wouldn't put it past him to have figured out my name and address. . ."

"And you're telling me this now?" Kōnosuke felt his blood pressure rising, and he felt the familiar pool of anxiety churning in his stomach when he put his glasses back on.

"Sorry, I didn't want to worry you—"

"Well, I'm getting worried now, and you don't seem to care about that," the elderly man said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sharply breathed out from his nose, wondering whether the threat of a nightly sneak attack was the actual cause of Kaito's insomnia, rather than guilt as he had initially thought. "But since you're telling me now, I'm guessing you figured out how to deal with him?"

"Yeah."

"And I guess the solution is dependant on this plan of yours, right?"

"Seems so."

Kōnosuke sighed. "So, there's not getting round it?"

"I don't think so."

"Even though it's so risky?"

"Jii-chan, everything is risky when it's time to put your life on the line." Kaito reminded him, "Wasn't it you, who taught me that?"

Kōnosuke averted his gaze, still convinced that there were countless of other ways to bring the same result in a much safer manner, but as much as he thought, he couldn't think of a single one, and so with Kaito sitting there, staring blankly at his cup on the table, Kōnosuke agreed, knowing that his priority would always be ensuring Kaito's safety, regardless of the risks involved, no matter how insurmountable they seemed.

"Alright. Then let's do this, but only under one condition – you can never be hasty, Kaito. No matter what happens."