Mazenderan I: The Rosy Hours of Mazenderan

You'll have the bad times

It was fun to travel. It really, really was.

But it was hard, too. Money was tight. They didn't make a lot to begin with – Kaito's magic shows were sporadic and empty, with only the occasional appearance at a nursing home or a child's birthday party or a gritty diner – and it only seemed to worsen as they moved around the world. Names were everything in the entertainment industry, and they were definitely not sticking around in any place long enough to establish even the barest trace of one. Kaito's income was just enough to get them by in the short run, and even then they were eating into their savings on the especially costly flights.

Aoko, on the other hand, was on a perpetual leave of absence from her job, spinning in a holding pattern as Internal Affairs tried to decide if she had enough integrity to return (yes, she was still sour about that – although, with all things considered, it was an accurate assessment of her morality, wasn't it?). Honestly, she wasn't holding her breath – the incident in the police station had been damning, to say the least. Nothing was ever pinned on Kaito, not truly, and nobody could prove that it had been Aoko in the riot gear who had saved his hide, but rumors – especially true ones – were enough to destroy any trust the office had left in her. It was just a matter of time before the administrative bullshit suspension gave way to complete termination. In the meantime, then, she had absolutely zero income from that end. She did parttime consultant work, as much as she could get online, but that barely made a dent.

They were traveling out of necessity for Kaito's moonlighting career. With the Tokyo police breathing down their backs, it was too dangerous to stay put in Japan and just wait for them to be caught. So instead they jumped around from place to place, not trying to make too big of a splash anywhere.

So it was all for Kaito. She gave up everything for him.

And the money was running out quick.

It was a worry that stuck with her as they boarded the plane at the International Copenhagen Airport and flew nine hours into Tehran, then rented a small little hatchback to make it the rest of the way to Mazenderan. It bothered her, like the little cough in the back of her throat that she could never quite clear, but she did her best to ignore it.

The Mazenderan Court was a large imposing complex centered just outside the city, bordering the Caspian Sea, and it came with an equally large imposing complex history. Although it now stood as a museum claiming to house the treasures of the earth – a museum that Aoko was currently perusing along with Kaito and Shinju – it was originally constructed in the middle of the nineteenth century as a torture palace for the carnal enjoyment of a bloodthirsty ruling family.

And, no, it was not child friendly.

"Kaito, where the hell did you bring us?!" Aoko hissed as she threw her hands over Shinju's eyes.

Kaito's eyes were trained on a torture device that looked explicitly painful and oddly… sexual? He looked just as disturbed as she felt. Good. "This is where the exhibit is! How was I supposed to know this museum would have – uhhh - kinky murder paraphernalia?"

"You didn't look up anything about this place before we got here?"

They were speedwalking the museum at this point, pulling an effectively blinded Shinju along as Aoko's iron grasp kept her two hands latched around her daughter's eyes. Each exhibit was kinkier and murderier than the one before it.

"Hey, don't pin this all on me!" Kaito hissed back at her, but there was a slight humor to his voice that broke her anger. It kind of was a funny situation, wasn't it? Walking around what was essentially an old sex dungeon with their seven-year-old daughter? "You could have looked it up too!"

They finally entered the shah's throne room, where the St. Dominic's Rosary was being displayed. Scanning the room for kinky murder paraphernalia and finding none, Aoko finally released her hands from Shinju's eyes. The museum, being rather empty, had an open path for the three of them to get up close to see the jewel of the hour.

St. Dominic's Rosary was a large, gaudy item crafted from a series of round rubies that were latched together by a delicate iron chain and that spilled across the velvet cushion like a trail of blood drops. The main jewel of its display was set in the heart of the cross, glistening out even brighter than it did from the black and white coloring of the newspaper.

Shinju was unimpressed. "Looks smaller in person," she sniffed.

Kaito, on the other hand, was practically drooling. His hands – those grabby hands – twitched and edged closer to the glass case. "I… want… to touch…"

"No touching allowed," a bored security guard warned from the corner of the room.

Kaito's hands immediately flew back to his side and he regained his composure. Holy hell, how much more suspicious could he look? "Sorry," he called over his shoulder. "It's just so beautiful!"

"It's a replica," the guard yawned. "Don't get too excited."

"A replica?!" Kaito demanded. "Why's it being advertised as the main display if it's just a replica?"

"Dude. Nobody comes to this museum, period. For obvious reasons – I mean, look around." The guard cast a sweeping arm at the kinky murder hall they just came from. "I guess the director wanted some flashy advertising. Why are you so surprised, anyway? Nobody comes to Iran looking to see Christian history."

"That's what I said!" Aoko exclaimed, elbowing Kaito.

Kaito soured as he furrowed his brows. "But that just doesn't make any sense…"

Aoko was almost ecstatic about being right about something for a change, but then she caught a glimpse of Kaito's face. His eyes, mostly.

Calculating. Cold. Confident.

He was an international jewel thief. He'd been one for years. He was an expert in jewels.

And this, apparently, was no fake.

"See ya, Aoko! I'll be back!"

Wait…

She could hear his voice, but he wasn't there. Kaito was off doing who knows what – preparing for the St. Dominic's Rosary heist most likely. He had been giddy in the past few days, giggling about how the heist notice had practically mailed itself. Surveillance of the local police department showed no extraordinary preparations – hell, the original Japanese Kaitou KID task force wasn't even being consulted on the matter - convinced as they were that the jewel Kaito was after was a fake. This only made Kaito even more giddy ("These morons don't know what they'll be missing!").

Aoko, for her part, was currently sitting in a musty clinic in the attic of a barbershop, going over some test results with an uncredentialed doctor-for-hire. She blinked to reset her mind and asked, "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I said that your cancer is back," the doctor said.

It was just supposed to be routine lab work. Her white blood cell count came back high so the doctor had ordered an x-ray for confirmation. That was fine. Sometimes her white blood cell count was high. Sometimes she was just getting over a quick cold she didn't even know she had. The x-ray always said she was fine and there was nothing to worry about. The cancer was always at bay. Until now.

"I'd like to do more tests to determine the extent," the doctor elaborated. "Preferably, a PET scan, but…"

More scans. More money. She had no idea about the way healthcare and insurance worked in Iran – why would she have looked into that, really? – but treatment, especially extensive treatment, was bound to be expensive. Aoko clenched her fist and willed some strength into herself. "Just tell me what you think based off this."

"It's hard to say without -"

"Hard, not impossible," Aoko pointed out. "Tell me."

The doctor squinted at the scan. "The image is fuzzy, but… it could be metastasis."

Metastasis. The last stage of cancer – when the cancer has grown so much that it's spread to other parts of the body. The terminal stage.

"Where's it spread to?"

The doctor glared at her. "This is a chest x-ray. I can't see anything besides your torso on here. I'd need to do another test to find out, preferably a PET scan -"

"I'd need to talk it over with my…" She almost said husband. Actually - oh, fuck it. "…husband."

She took the x-ray copy into her hands and stared at it. There was a lot to discuss.

Because, fuck, she never even told Kaito about the cancer in the first place. She never explained her bald head or the eight million doctor's appointments she had that one year. She just let him think she was having a hard time with the separation, and it was believable because it was kind of true but also kind of not. And then she finished the chemo and she was in remission and everything was fine because she wouldn't have to explain anything but now the cancer was back –

She had to tell him now. She had to. But when?

AN: The plot begins. Although Aoko and Kaito have reconciled their differences, they are still extremely bad with communication - hence, Aoko hasn't even told Kaito about her first cancer diagnosis. Kaito has his own secrets, too, mind you...