Ooooooooo……. The heist chapter is finally here!  And it's another big one too.  I really worked hard on this…and of course, dear little Kaito absolutely INSISTED on the music.  Not that I mind, actually, it worked out pretty well.  Just so you know, it's actually designed so that if you start the song when Kaitou Kid does, if you're a reasonably quick reader the song should last just about as long as it does in the heist.  (it's based on my reading speed, so no guarantees).  I got the lyrics and translation from Animelyrics. com, so a big THANK YOU to whoever it was that sent them in there and did all that work so I didn't have to.

Moonlight Shadow

Chapter 05:

Lost in a Riddle that Saturday Night

Dinner was a somewhat strained affair.  Aoko spent the time thinking up questions to ask Kaito, and Kaito spent the time making mental preparations for the heist coming up in a few hours.  Meimi tried her best to keep the conversation light and upbeat to give them both a break from the obviously difficult time they were going through.  She didn't feel responsible for their hardship, and she knew they could handle it, but she was a mother, she couldn't help but be concerned for them and want to do what she could to make things better.

When dinner was over, she insisted they both do their homework, even though it was Saturday and they didn't have school the next day.  They both agreed, since they knew after tonight and the discussion they would have to continue, not to mention the heist, they probably wouldn't have much time or inclination for schoolwork tomorrow.

By eight o'clock, Nakamori-keibu was deeply embroiled in the semantics of how Takage-san's security guards were to be fit into his own taskforce for tonight's excitement.  He had given all his officers a talk before they came down here to the warehouse about keeping a close watch on those "guards" near them.  Nakamori Ginzo was not an overly trusting person when it came to people like Takage-san, and after his comments yesterday, Nakamori was fairly convinced he would try to kill the Kid.  The way he had talked about "getting the Kid" had sounded rather nastily fatal.  That went against both his own conscience and the "rules of engagement" he had established for dealing with Kaitou Kid's heists.  Every officer was to try his hardest to capture him, but none were to deliberately seriously injure him in order to capture him.  Accidents might happen, of course, but Nakamori wanted no cries of "police brutality" when the Kid was finally brought to trial.  Besides, Kaitou Kid was, he was sure, perfectly capable of doing a lot more damage than he did, and some of those little toys of his could conceivably be much more dangerous than the ways he chose to use them.  He obviously wasn't trying to deliberately injure any of the forces sent out to catch him, and so they afforded him that same courtesy. 

Nakamori ended up deciding to station at least three of his officers around each security guard and hoping that was enough.  He glanced at his watch.  Eight thirty.  Still another hour and a half 'til moonrise at ten, and he was pretty sure Kid wouldn't arrive until tonight's full moon had cleared the tallest building and would then be shining its full light down on this particular warehouse.  And that reminded him that he had one more important thing to do tonight before the heist.  He had a phone call to make.

Kaito and Aoko had just finished their homework when the phone rang. 

"Kaito, it's for you!" Meimi called up to him.

"Coming!" he sang out cheerfully as he bounced down the stairs, the anticipation of the heist singing in his veins already.  She held out the phone to him and he skidded to a stop right in front of it and took it from her.  "Moshi moshi." he said politely.

"Kaito-kun, Nakamori here.  Just wanted to ask you to make sure Aoko gets to tonight's heist safely.  Normally I would ask you to persuade her to stay home, but I have a hunch that it might be critically important that she be here tonight.  She was so bright last night when she was dreaming that I could see the light clearly under the door, and given what she's told me about her dreams, tonight's heist may be the catalyst which frees her full power."

"I'll make sure she gets there safely." Kaito assured him, mentally thanking his lucky stars that she knew now.  Hiding the truth from her when he was supposed to watch over her during a heist-watch would have been... difficult.  "Besides, it's not like either of us could keep her from going if she really wanted to, better to keep her safe while she's there and near-at-hand than tell her to stay home and then have her stubbornly come anyway."

"Good, we understand each other then." Nakamori agreed.  "I'll see you later, then."

"See you later."  Kaito looked at his watch and swore.  Less than an hour left before he had to get ready for tonight.  It wasn't a lot of time, but he owed Aoko as much of an explanation as he could give her in that time.

"Who was that?" Aoko asked from the top of the stairs.

"Just your dad checking up on things." Kaito shrugged.  "C'mon.  Now that we're done our homework we only have under an hour 'til I have to get ready, and we have a lot to talk about, don't we?"

"We sure do." she glared at him.

"So, where were we?" He asked once they were settled back in his room. "Shinobi.  Right.  So one of those shinobi families was the Kuroba family, and they...we were also traditionally entertainers, most lately magicians.  Now you have to understand, a lot of my information is secondhand, I wasn't taught the way my father and his father and so forth were taught, since Touchan had only taught me some magic and the most rudimentary skills like lockpicking when he died, and he hadn't told me anything about my heritage.  He was waiting until I turned twelve before he would say anything about that, as was traditional, and since he was an only child there was nobody else to take over my training properly.  This is what I do know though.  When Touchan was twelve, Ojiisan started his training in the ancient ways of our family.  It quickly became apparent that  he was something of a genius. By the time he was seventeen, he was already taking jobs, had designed his own outfit, in white, of all things, since "only the bad guys wear black", and had even made improvements on the tools he used on a day-to-day basis and was designing new tools.  He quickly became sought-after, and was able to pick and choose his jobs, but somewhere along the line he picked the wrong job.  All these people wanted him to do was find one particular gem.  The trouble was they didn't know what it looked like, or even what type of stone it was.  They were, however, willing to pay him even if the stone he took wasn't the one they were looking for, just so long as he kept looking, and they didn't care what he did with the ones he took that weren't the one they wanted."

"But Kaito, if they didn't know what it looked like, how would he know whether he'd found the right gem?"

"Because this gem they're looking for is actually one stone inside another, and under the moonlight, it should glow red.  It's called the Pandora Gem, and it's supposed to have great healing powers, even cry tears of immortality.  Whether you believe that stuff or not, they must have, because they really wanted it.  Touchan started to wonder about his employers, though, so he did a little research, and what he found out seriously disturbed him.  To the point, in fact, that he told them they could take the job and shove it."

"Ah yes, Toichi-jichan always did insist on honesty and integrity, I remember that about him.  But if these guys were so shady, wouldn't it be dangerous for him to snub them like that?"

"You're right, it was.  It was even more dangerous than that, though.  He decided that whether or not such a stone with those amazing powers existed, he didn't want to take the chance of something like that, if it worked as advertised, being in the hands of such unscrupulous people so he continued to look for it on his own, determined to keep it away from those who would use it for ill ends."

"That definitely sounds like what I remember of him, alright.  But why didn't he just go to the police?  He was good friends with Tousan..."  she paused and stared wide-eyed at Kaito.  "You know, I hadn't thought of that.  He was good friends with Tousan, and I know Tousan respected and admired him as well as being his friend, but if he was... was..."

"Was Kaitou Kid?  He was.  He was also just a regular guy.  I'm sure he knew your dad wouldn't understand, so he didn't bring his problems to him.  At least not directly.  But if your dad happened to run into some information about other, worse criminals while chasing the Kid, it was all good, and if that information helped them be caught, even better.  That's still how it works, you know.  And it's not like your dad is dumb for not realizing, he's just... single-minded."

Aoko laughed.  "He is, you know." she admitted.  "All he ever thinks about is catching Kaitou Kid.  But if Toichi-jichan was Kaitou Kid, then the thief he was chasing is dead."

"He is...but Kaitou Kid is alive and well.  Aoko, you remember when Touchan died.  Nobody said anything about it, but he didn't die in a stage accident.  He was killed."

"Those guys who wanted that Pandora Gem thing?"

"Yup.  They killed him, and it was covered up, and he just went away on tour one time and never came home.  I always said he was too good to loose his life to a simple accident, but then, it's not unknown for even the best magician to get in over his head, so I accepted it, reluctantly, but I eventually learned the truth.  And when I did...  Well, I just had to do something.  Can you understand, Ao-chan?  I couldn't just sit there and ignore what had happened, I had to act."

"But why didn't you go to the police?" Aoko protested.  "I can understand Toichi-jichan's reasons, but you'd better have a very good reason for your little indiscretion."

"Why didn't I go to the police?  I guess logically I probably should have, before it would have endangered me, but somehow I... Well, I found out right before that clock tower heist, you remember that one?  Yeah, I wasn't Kid before then, and I wanted to see who this other Kaitou Kid was, I had this wild idea Touchan might just have been hiding out all those years and had finally decided it was safe to come back.  It was strange how well everything fit, how easy it all was.  It just felt right.  Like I was supposed to be doing just what I was doing."

"Why didn't you tell me, Kaito?"  There, the question was out in the open.  She felt better for finally having asked it, too.

"To be perfectly honest, Aoko, I didn't tell anyone.  I only told my mom yesterday, and that was because she confronted me with the fact that she already knew.  I didn't want to get anyone else in trouble."  He looked at his watch and grinned.  "Well, on that note, it's time for me to get ready.  Heists wait for no man, or some such.  Besides, your dad wanted me to bring you to the heist."

Now it was Aoko's turn to grin - quite ferally.  "So I can wave my 'Kid go home' banner, right?  And cheer on my dad while he's chasing you.  Sounds like fun.  I'll reserve my final judgment in this case until after the evening's excitement is over, because I can tell there's still a part of the story you haven't told me, but I expect full disclosure when we get back."

"Ninmu ryokai!" he saluted.  "Just wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes."

After Kaito left, Aoko sat on the bed, pondering to herself.  She was actually surprised with how well she was taking this.  Strangely, it was the dreams which were helping her stay calm.  So much of what Kaito was saying seemed to come almost directly from the 'explanation dreams' that it seemed like they were almost prophetic.  And that was, by far, the most disturbing thing she'd thought all day, even with the distressing truth she had found out.  She just wished Kaito could have trusted her earlier, that was all.  A couple of tears trickled down her cheeks, but she angrily brushed them away.  Her emotions could be put to much better use getting mad at Kaito later.  Because being understanding was all well and good, but in the end, getting mad was so much more her thing.

Kaito whistled something by BoA (he'd forgotten the name of it) as he packed everything into his usual backpack.  Aoko was taking all this so well!  Mind you, he was sure she would eventually wreck bloody revenge on him with her mop, but he might even have time to run quite a long way before she told her father about him.  Of course, there was still no chance she wouldn't tell Nakamori-keibu, it was the only logical outcome, after all, but he could live with that.  He would just have to, and that was that.  Still whistling the same tune, he headed upstairs to collect Aoko.

When he got back, she was still sitting on the bed, so he bowed jauntily and offered her his arm.

"Shall we be off then?" he asked with a smile.

Aoko punched his shoulder, then laughed and took his arm.  "Let's go.  I can't wait to laugh at all those Kaitou Kid fans who don't have a clue who he really is.  The speculation is always quite fascinating."

"Whatever makes you happy." Kaito shrugged.

"Hitting you with a mop would make me happy." she laughed and almost leered.

"Well then, when this is all over, I promise I'll stand still for a whole minute and let you hit me as much as you like." he laughed back.

"I'll hold you to that." she warned.

When they got to the door, Meimi was waiting for them.  She gave them each a hug, then turned to whisper to Aoko.

"Remember: trust him, but keep in mind the silly overprotectiveness of boys in general, and boy magicians in particular." she advised her.

"You knew."

"And I got through it, I survived, and so will you."

Aoko gave her a hopeful smile.

By mutual unspoken agreement they didn't discuss any serious topics as they walked to the warehouse where the heist would occur.  Instead, as they walked through the streets and alleyways of Tokyo on an intricate route that Aoko would be hard pressed to describe, let alone repeat, they lightheartedly joked about their teachers and classmates, or police officers under her father's command whom they both knew.  When they drew close, they could hear the crowd milling about, and Aoko caught sight of some of her classmates.

"I guess this is where I leave you." Kaito said lightly.

"I guess so." Aoko sighed.

"I'll see you after.  Meet me here, okay?" he smiled reassuringly

"Okay.  And Kaito?  Be careful, ne?"

"I'll try." he laughed.  And with a jaunty wave he was gone.

Aoko took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly.  Centered and closer to her regular self, she stepped out into the crowd and called brightly to her classmates.

Just outside the warehouse, Inspector Nakamori Ginzo watched the full moon playing peek-a-boo with the tallest buildings of the Tokyo skyline.  It looked like there were only three left for it to rise above before it would be "in its glory" alone in the sky.  Things would be starting soon.  His air of nervous tension had infected those of his men standing closest to him, and they were watching the nearby security guards more closely than the watch they were keeping for Kaitou Kid.  In a way, that disturbed him, since it was a bad precedent to set, but it was also reassuring.  It seemed his concern about tonight had been more than adequately communicated.  He nervously drummed his fingers on his thigh and fervently wished he hadn't finally bowed to Aoko's demands that he stop smoking last month.  But once she came into her power she would have purged the nicotine from his system constantly anyway, and he much preferred to quit on his own power.  He'd even managed, during the last week, to wean himself off the nicotine gum he'd been chewing.  He glanced up at the moon again.

"Only a couple of minutes to go, look alive out there!" he ordered over the general broadcast channel.

After he left Aoko, Kaito had gone through a side access door into the warehouse across the street and from there into a long-forgotten service tunnel where he had changed and stashed his backpack.  He glanced at his watch and noted that he was right on time.  Striding quickly along the tunnel in near-darkness, his footsteps nigh-inaudible, he soon reached the door he wanted.  He had oiled the hinges over this past week so he had no fear they would hear him come in, and it opened into an unused sub-basement in any case.  He wasn't sure the present owner even knew the sub-basement was there, but there were a couple of routes up from it, one of which put him right next to the power grid, the main security shutoff and the lockdown override.

"Takage-san, if I didn't know better, I'd say you wanted me to rob you." he said softly as he cut the main wire to the security system, then activated the override, causing all the safe doors in the building to swing open at once.  Then he cut the power.

"He's activated the security override!" came someone's panicky, crackling voice over the radio.

Nakamori swore vociferously.  "We didn't see him go in, nobody has been allowed through the doors, he must have been hiding inside!  You men outside the building, make sure nobody leaves, men inside, block all exits!  Make sure he can't make it onto the roof!

Inside the warehouse, twenty or more flashlights flicked on at once, and their bright beams crossed and recrossed, causing a confusing strobe effect.  Kaitou Kid began to laugh as he rolled a few different-coloured smoke bombs across the floor to add to the confusion.  The scene resembled nothing so much as a disco rave, lacking only the music.  That simply wouldn't do!  Continuing his slightly mad chortle, Kid pulled out one of his most secret weapons - a powerful walkie-talkie tuned to the same frequency as those the Kid taskforce carried - and plugged his MP3 player into the mic slot.  He selected just the perfect song for this heist, cranked the volume, and hit play.  There!  Now the rave atmosphere was complete!

Koi wa thrill, shock, suspense

Mienai chikara tayori ni... (1)

Nakamori yelled incoherently as his radio erupted with the heavy dance beat of "Koi wa Thrill, Shock, Suspense".

Kokoro no tobira tozasazu ni tsuyoku...tsuyoku... (2)

"Change frequency!" he yelled, trying valiantly to make himself heard over the volume of the music.

Back in the "policeman's rave", Kaitou Kid was cackling gleefully as he danced nimbly toward his target.  The volume of the music dipped slightly as some of the officers changed radio frequencies, so he hit the "broadcast all channels" button on his radio and continued to dance, quickly reaching the particular vault he wanted.

Watashi ga kanjiteita toge o kimi ni mo onaji you ni ataeteita no kamo shirenakatta (3)

Ten or so of the various security types had placed themselves shoulder to shoulder across the entrance, since they weren't able to close the door with the power off, and he skidded to a stop about four feet in front of them and stood there for a moment, waiting to see if any would break formation.

Nani ni kokoro o itamete nani ni obieteita no ka ki ni mo tomezu

Motsureteku futari no shinjitsu ni mukiau no ga kowakatta (4)

Aoko had slowly made her way to the fringes of the crowd around the side of the building, and she was feeling distinctly odd.  It was almost like she was in a dream or a trance.  Some inner part of her mind was aware of what she was doing, but it didn't seem to have any control over her body. 

This love is thrill, shock, suspense

Moyoi o aoi kaze ni chirasou toshite mo

Kakaekirezu ni itayo kono chisana mune ni wa (5)

She found herself slipping into the shadows behind some crates, waiting for a police officer to walk past, then starting to climb up the fire escape.  The inner part of her mind was praying fervently that nobody saw her...and especially that nobody looked up, as she was still in her school fuku, and skirts were not made for climbing!

Kokoro no tobira tozasazu ni

Tsugi e to susumu arata na fuan to mayoi o kakaete shimaisou ni natte mo (6)

The guards blocking the vault door resolutely stood their ground even through a few of Kid's crazier dance moves, and Kid could hear the syncopated offbeat thuds of others running toward him from behind, so he reached surreptitiously into one of the compartments in his jacket as part of one of his dance moves, and threw a flashbomb high into the air.  As it reached the top of its arc he slipped a pair of tanning glasses over his eyes, then smiled at the confused outcry from his opponents as it went off with an almost-inaudible pop and a magnesium-white flare. 

Yawaraka sugiru ai ni dakare teita yo kitto

Nakushite ki ga tsuitayo chisana nukumori (7)

When it had faded, he pocketed the glasses and dashed toward the crowd.  With a leap and a handspring off one man's shoulders he was inside the vault. 

Ima ni natae ne kimi no omoi no fukasa ga miesou de

Machigatteinai mono a massugu na mono o

Itsumo miseteite kureta n da ne (8)

The men roared with outrage, but because of the way they had squished themselves into the door, they were having a hard time turning around, and since most of them, and the other officers as well, had dropped their flashlights to cover their eyes, which still hadn't recovered from the bright flash in any case, there was plenty of time for Kaitou Kid to grab his objective and, in perfect synchronization to the beat of the song, vault back over the human "door", dive beneath the reaching arms of those officers who had come running, kick any flashlights in his path spinning, and make a break for the stairs to the roof.

This love is thrill, shock, suspense

Futaritomo ni sugoshita jikan o mou muda na hibi datta nante

Kizu ni nanaka shinai yo (9)

The special operative Hirano Takahiro had sent grinned to himself as he spun his semi-automatic rifle on his finger to the faint dance beat that drifted up the stairs.

"Better enjoy yourself while you can, 'cause I'm taking you out, Kaitou Kid." he laughed harshly.  He heard the faint clanking of footsteps coming up the fire escape and caught his gun in firing position, training it on the spot where the fire escape opened onto the roof, then relaxed again when he saw it was only a girl.  No doubt one of Kaitou Kid's fans, trying to get an up-close view of her hero.  No point wasting bullets on her yet and giving away his position, he would wait for the Kid to appear.

Mitsukeda yo ano hi no kotae

Kimi to no kizamareta kiokutachi wa kokoro no dokoka de shizuka ni ikizuiteku yo (10)

Aoko pulled herself onto the roof, then found herself walking to the front of the building and looking down at the crowd.  The crunching of the gravel underfoot, the crowd, the swinging spotlights, all were distinctly and distressingly familiar.  It was exactly the way that dream always started.  All she needed now was for Kaitou Kid to come along...

- looking for exit to escape- (11)

With gleeful abandon, International Phantom Thief 1412 danced away from his pursuers and up the stairs.  The music thing was a great idea... He really should remember it for some heist in the future, it was wonderfully distracting.  Not to mention fun, of course!  The lyrics were a bit...eerie...though, given his current situation with Aoko.  He hadn't even been thinking of that when he picked the song, just that it had a good beat.

He reached the door to the roof without pursuit, and slipped through, locking it behind him.  With a practiced eye he checked the roof for any police presence.  He grinned.  Not a uniform in sight.  Except...  What was Aoko doing up here?  She was standing at the edge of the roof, just standing there, and he couldn't tell if it was just a trick of the light, but she almost seemed like she was glowing slightly.  It was the first time he'd seen that when she was awake, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the Tenshi no Namida being so close by.

"Konbanwa, ojousan." he said in Kid's voice as he came up behind her.  Under his breath he muttered, "What are you doing up here?"

Kimi wa tokku ni mieteita n da ne (12)

She turned to look at him and he was shocked by the vacantness in her gaze for a moment.  Then she blinked, and she was back to her usual self.

"Kai..."

He cut her off with a wink and a shushing gesture, and she could see her good friend Kaito peering out past the mask of Kaitou Kid, then he took her hand and bowed low over it, sweeping off his top hat in a courtly manner.  Her eyes widened in fear.  It was one thing for her to play out parts of her dreams, that could be explained ...sortof... but for Kaito to start playing out her dreams, when she had never related them in detail to him, was extremely unsettling.  Especially when it was this dream.  She didn't want this dream to be real!  She felt a cool weight in her hand as he straightened up, and he curled his fingers around her closed fist.

Kowareyasukute mamoru mono nante nai to akirameteta dake datta to... (13)

"This belongs..."

"To me.  I know.  I've had this dream often enough."

"This dream?"  His eyes widened.

"Yes, now don't just stand there, get moving, he's sure to start shooting soon."

"Shooting?" Kid echoed.

Aoko blanched.  "Baka.  Duck!" she screamed just as the sharp crack of a gunshot rang out across the roof.

This love is thrill, shock, suspense

Kimi kara watashi kara subete kara mo nigete tadori tsuiteta no wa (14)

A particularly vicious expletive dripped like acid off the lips of Hirano's favourite operative.  That girl must have noticed his laser sight on the Kid's back.  He sent a volley of shots after the Kid as he pushed the girl ahead of him toward shelter.

As he ran, Kid...Kaito tracked the trajectory of the bullets back to their source and saw a black hat and a gun peeking over the top of one of the electrical boxes.  He swore internally and pulled out his card gun.  He knew he wasn't likely to get a decent shot from this angle, but you did what you could.  There was good cover behind that fan over there, if they could just make it across the open roof.

Two steps from shelter, with Aoko already safe, he felt a hot pain in his leg cut through the adrenaline in his blood like ice poured into his veins.  He gritted his teeth and dove for cover, letting out a hiss of pain and then forcing himself to ignore it.  They weren't safe yet.

Dokodemo nai tokoro datta mou nigemichi wa iranai yo (15)

Aoko clenched her fists and swallowed quite a few of her father's favourite expressions.  Kaito was shot.  Just like in the dream.  And he was going to ignore it again, she was sure of it.  Slipping the jewel down her top for safekeeping (and why did she feel it had to be over her heart?) she forced Kaito to look at her.

"Bind it.  Now." she hissed curtly, "Or I will."

He nodded, and handed her one of his handkerchiefs.  "You do it." he grimaced.  "If I think about it I'll feel it more, and if I feel it more..."  He moved so she could reach the wound, high in his left thigh.

Aoko winced in sympathy, tried desperately to ignore the fact that this was Kaito whose blood was welling up so crimson beneath her fingers, and tied the handkerchief as tightly as she could with shaking hands.

Tatoe namida o nagashita toshite mo watashi mo nanimo kowarenai to shitta kara (16)

Kaito couldn't quite suppress the whimper of pain as his wound was bound.  Truly, he wanted to howl, but he didn't have the luxury.  They weren't out of this yet, he could collapse later.

He peeked around the fan and swore as another bullet nearly missed his head.  He'd seen what he needed to see, though.  They had a short and clear run to the utility shed he'd examined earlier in the week as a possible hiding spot, had the police been too close behind him.  It had doors on opposite ends, which might give him more time to disarm his opponent, and it looked to offer a much better angle.  He wanted nothing more than to get himself and Aoko out of there, but the only way off the roof at this point was the glider, and that would leave him a great big glowing white target.  And speaking of targets, right now was a perfect opportunity to drop the fake.  He let it slip out of his hand as he reached over to grasp Aoko's shoulder.

"Aoko, c'mon, that way." he hissed as he directed her gaze toward the shed, "I might be able to get a shot off at him from there."

Aoko looked wary, but she could tell just as well as he could that they had to move from this spot, it was still far too exposed.

He counted down from three on one hand, and they burst into motion.  Kaito winced with every footfall, but he forced himself to ignore it, and when a bullet whizzed past his ear it gave him a fresh burst of adrenaline to keep moving.  He managed to keep his opponent pinned with covering fire from his card gun, and then they had reached the shed.  He never noticed that the MP3 player had come loose from the radio as he ran and was working itself unplugged.  Aoko ducked around the side of the shed, and he followed her, but when he opened the door, she stubbornly refused to go in.

Over the blaring music, one of Nakamori's officers had been able to report that Kaitou Kid had reached the roof, and Nakamori had been training spotlights there and making disparaging and anatomically unlikely comments about where Kaitou Kid might store that hangglider of his when he saw what looked like...  He whipped out his binoculars and swore darkly.  What the hell was Aoko doing up there?!  He caught sight of Kid, who seemed to be talking to Aoko, and then he heard a shot ring out and both of them disappeared.  He heard more shots, from two different firearms, and then with a crackle the music cut out right at the end of the song, and he could hear voices.

"I will not go in there alone!"

That was Aoko, and she didn't sound at all pleased.

"Yes you will.  I have to disarm this guy, and I need to know you're safe before I leave you on your own."

That must be the Kid, although his voice definitely wasn't calm and controlled the way it usually was.  But then, Nakamori supposed, these were somewhat extraordinary circumstances, certainly not the way your average Kaitou Kid heist usually ended.

"Baka!  I'm not the one injured here!"

"Aoko, I swore I'd protect you, and I intend to keep to that vow, now Get. In. The. Shed. I'll be fine!"

Had Aoko said the Kid was injured?  Nakamori depressed the outgoing button on his radio.

"Kaitou Kid, stay where you are, we want to get the shooter.  All officers inside the building head for the roof."

If Kaitou Kid was surprised to hear his radio crackle to life none of that showed in his voice when he answered.

"That won't do much good I'm afraid Inspector," he said politely, "I locked the door to the roof.  Wish I hadn't now, but that's how it goes sometimes.  I can get his gun away from him, but you'll have to climb up here or send a copter to pick him up."

"Tousan, it's like my nightmare!"  Aoko added.

"I'm sure it is.  You go get under cover Aoko, for once the Kid and I agree." her father ordered her, too concerned with his daughter's safety to take in just how strange that sounded.

Aoko vehemently protested that order, as Nakamori had known she would.  Sometimes she truly was her father's daughter.

Kaito took advantage of Aoko's distraction to wrap both his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides, and carry her, kicking and screaming, into the shed.

"Now stay there." he told her, "You can hit me all you want later."

"Kaito!  Kaito!  BAKA!  Let me out!" he could hear her screaming as she pummeled the shed door.

At least all the noise she was making was a good, distracting cover for his movements as he slid around the far side of the shed.  Ahh, the perfect angle, just as he had hoped.  Feeling strangely like he was in one of those shoot-em-up thrillers, he waited for the man in black to raise his gun again.  He was aiming for the shed, and Kaito realized suddenly that the thin aluminum siding would do almost nothing to slow bullets.  He took careful aim and fired.

"Now stay there." Nakamori heard over the radio, "You can hit me all you want later."

"Kaitou BAKA!" He heard Aoko's faint voice in the background.

'Good,' he thought, 'he's got her safe.'  Something about the Kid's last comment stuck in his head, though, and began to niggle away at him.

Kaitou Kid grinned in relief as he saw his shot impact on the barrel of the Black syndicate operative's rifle, and his second shot hit the man's gloved hand.  He dropped the rifle, then picked it up with his other hand and aimed for Kid.

"Ambidextrous are you?  I don't think so." Kid growled and fired again, hitting his other hand.

The man roared with outrage, but he couldn't pull the trigger with either hand now.

"He's ready and waiting for you now, Inspector." Kaitou Kid reported, "I'll get Aoko out of here in case he had any friends around.  Kaitou Kid over and out!" He said the last bit in English, with a smirk entirely born of his temporary sense of relief, and turned off the radio.

Aoko couldn't decide if she felt outraged or panicked about Kaito shoving her in the shed, but either way she wanted out!  She paused in her attempt to beat down the door when she heard a shot, followed by another.  She thought back to her dream.  There should be one more shot, and... there it was... then...

"Kaitou Kid, over and out!" she heard him say, then she heard him slump against the side of the shed.  She paled in the realization that, just because he hadn't been shot again in her dream didn't mean he hadn't been here...

"Kaito, are you okay?  Get me out of here!  Open the door!  Dammit, where are you?!"  She started pounding on the door again, trying not to let her rising terror show in her voice.  She nearly screamed when she felt a hand go around her waist and another press over her mouth.

"Shh, it's me." he whispered in her ear.

Her relief was so great that she slumped bonelessly against him for a second, and he released her mouth, but not her.  Instead, he slid the other arm down to wrap it around her shoulders.

"We've got to get out of here.  How do you feel about flying?" he asked.

"Flying?"

"I'm not about to unlock the door for our friend out there."

"Will the hangglider hold both of us?"

"It should.  You'll have to hold onto my back, though.  You think you can manage?"

Aoko took a deep breath.  "I'm going to have to, aren't I?  Alright then, let's fly.  And I promise I won't take you up on that offer to hit you until we're safe."

Kaito chuckled as he released her.  "Thanks." he said depreciatingly.

He was visibly limping by the time they got to the edge of the roof, and Aoko was starting to get worried.  She remembered her dream from the night before all too well.  Kaito stood right on the low barrier which ringed the very edge of the roof and turned to her.

"I'm going to extend the glider now, and as soon as it's deployed, you need to duck under it and through the crossbeams and hold onto my shoulders."

"Okay." she nodded.

"Here we go, then!" he pressed the glider's trigger button and with a foomp it snapped into place.  He felt Aoko's arms go around his shoulders as she stepped up on the narrow ledge, and her body press against his, and he grinned despite their somewhat difficult situation.  He'd always wanted to take her flying.  "Hold on tight, now!"  He leaned forward, then jumped clear of the building and into the warm updraft coming from the sun-warmed street, crossing his left ankle over his right to help keep both legs straight out behind him..

Aoko gulped audibly and pulled her knees up on either side of his hips to hold on better, and it sent something coursing through his veins which had nothing to do with the adrenaline or the pain he'd felt earlier.  Probably something to do with hormones, he thought to himself.  Yup, definitely hormones, he confirmed with a lopsided grin.  That would be good, it was something to focus on besides the pain in his leg as the adrenaline faded.  He wanted to get them at least ten or twelve blocks away, and if he could make it to the roof of the national library that would be perfect.  There was one of his best bolt-holes right across the street where he usually kept a change of clothes, and the wind was in the right direction for it.  He wasn't sure how the glider would handle the extra weight, though.

Once Aoko got over her initial fear at the drop below her, she found flying to be quite a heady sensation.  The wind tugged at her hair with insistent fingers and the city looked so different from above, all sparkling like rhinestones on velvet.  She had to admit to herself that it wouldn't have been nearly so magical if she hadn't been with Kaito.  He was so warm beneath her and it made her feel safe, like nothing could touch her...and it made her blush to think about how much she was touching him.  They hadn't been in such close physical contact since...  Well, since before they went into junior high at least.  She tried very hard not to dwell on the firm but smooth tone of his muscles beneath her hands and between her legs.  For a second she blushed bright red and hid her face in the back of his neck as that last not thinking about it thought registered.

The winds were ideal, and they made good time through the streets, but even good time is still time, and even the hormones of a teenage male could only keep Kaito's mind off the pain for so long.  They were only three-quarters of the way to the National Library when his vision blurred, then went double.  He swore blackly.

"Kaito, you okay?" Aoko asked querulously.

"Um...not really."  He paused.  "Nope, definitely not really." he groaned.

"Kaito?"  She tightened her arms around him.

"I think I can make it, but you're going to have to help me stay awake." he said through gritted teeth.

"Help you stay awake?  I can do that, I guess.  Where are we going anyway?" she asked, trying to keep the fear she was feeling out of her voice.

"We're going to the National Library.  It's got a good flat roof and a spot nearby where I keep a change of clothes." he explained.

"The National Library?" Aoko almost laughed, "Meimi-bachan told me a story about the National Library just yesterday, about her and Kaitou Kid...I guess that would have been Toichi-jichan."  She began to relate the story to Kaito, hoping it would catch his interest enough to keep him awake.

Kaito gripped the glider's handles tightly as he concentrated on the sound of Aoko's voice, and only half paying attention to what she was saying.  He couldn't loose it now, he wouldn't be the only one going down, and he'd be damned if he was going to let Aoko get hurt.

"Kaito, I can see the library, we're almost there!" she said encouragingly as they rounded the final corner.

"Good.  You've gotta drop to the roof before I can land or you'll be caught in the glider when it collapses, okay?  I'll fly over the roof, you drop, then I'll...well, I'll try to land anyway."  He whimpered internally at the thought of putting any weight on his left leg, but once they were down he could maybe do something more effective about the bleeding at least, and he could call Jii, who might be able to help, or know someone who could.

He tilted the glider up into an updraft to avoid the downdraft on the lee side of the library building, his legs quivering with the strain of the right having to hold the left out for so long, then swooped down as close to the roof as he could.

"Now." he told her tightly.

Aoko slid-and-rolled awkwardly off his back and landed on hands and knees on the rough gravel roof.  Forcing his muscles to relax, Kaito took a deep breath, clicked the button to collapse the glider, and fell the last couple of feet to the roof in the best approximation of a controlled tumble he could manage under the circumstances.

Aoko pulled herself to her feet, dusting off her hands on her skirt as she ran over to him.

"Kaito?" she called frantically as she tried to pull him out of the ball he had rolled himself into.

He just groaned and slowly uncurled himself.  She gasped in shock as she saw how white he was, and how red his pantleg was, even in the colour-leeching moonlight.

He groaned again as she rolled him onto his back, taking his hat off and turning his cloak into an impromptu pillow, and she swore.

"Kaito, why didn't you tell me how bad it was?!"

He just shook his head, his eyes clenched shut.

"Kaito, please talk to me..." she said, her voice getting shaky.

"M...man, this roof ... hurts." he managed to whisper.

She helped him to sit up slowly, leaned him against an electrical box nearby and knelt next to him to examine his leg.

"I need to put a better bandage on this, do you have any scarves?" she asked, trying desperately to stay calm.  She took a deep breath and she felt something.  She didn't know where it was coming from, but there was a warmth deep inside her that was calming her fears, telling her everything would turn out alright.

Wordlessly Kaito handed her a string of handkerchiefs, and just like in the dream she'd had the night before she made pads to cover the entrance and exit wounds out of two of them, then tied them down with a few more.

"Kaito, I'm worried.  Even with this better bandage, you've lost a lot of blood..."

"Shh... Daijoubu." he shakily assured her, placing one gloved finger across her lips.  "At least you're safe now, and I've got a plan, I just need to rest a minute."

"But..."  He could see the tears welling up in her eyes, and as he watched, two spilled over to trickle down her cheeks.  He hated seeing her cry, and something inside him (maybe the remnants of the adrenaline, maybe the hormones, or maybe it was just bloodloss) suggested a way to stop her tears.

"Aoko," he said softly, "no matter what else happens, I'm glad you know now.  So glad I don't have to hide and lie anymore.  And," he tipped her face up to make her meet his earnest gaze, "I'm so, so sorry." He leaned forward ever-so-slightly, closing his eyes, and kissed her gently.

After a moment of shock, her hands came up to tangle in his hair and she began to kiss him back.  He hadn't realized how chilled he was until her warmth was there.  Kissing Aoko was like... well, he didn't know quite what it was like but it was warm and sweet and his heart was racing and he wanted to do this again, should have done this sooner.  And his arms were around her, pulling her warmth and sweetness closer to him, deepening the kiss... Then all of a sudden there was a bright light he could see even with his eyes closed and her whole body went rigid.  He opened his eyes to see her shining like a beacon, brighter than the moon, in fact, although the light was silver like moonlight.  Her head was thrown back and her mouth was open in a soundless cry. 

He felt the light envelop him as well, and it was warm like her kiss had been.  Warm, and he thought he smelled something like sun-warmed jasmine mixed with sandalwood.  Could this be... her power blossoming?  His arms fell slack at his side as he suddenly felt very lightheaded.

"Aoko, I sure hope your father knows what he's talking about for once." he whispered, gazing in awe at his childhood friend as she hovered about half a foot above the roof.

@~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~            @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~

English translation for Koi wa Thrill, Shock, Suspense:

(1)       Love is a thrill, shock and suspense

            Relying on unseen forces…

(2)       Powerfully without locking up the heart's door… powerfully…

(3)       Maybe I was giving you pain similar to what I've felt

            Without thinking about what gave me pain, what I feared

(4)       I feared facing the complicated truth

(5)       This love is a thrill, shock and suspense

            Even if I try to scatter doubt in the blue winds

            I was unable to carry the burden in this small chest

(6) Without locking up the heart's door

Even if I must carry more anxiety and doubt as I continue on

(7)       Perhaps I was being carried by a soft love

            I noticed when I lost the small warmth

(8)       Now I begin to see the depth of your feelings

            The correct things, straight things

            You've shown those to me

(9)       This love is a thrill, shock and suspense

            The time that both of us overlooked was useless

            I won't make them into scars

(10)     I've finally found the answer

            Memories with you will continue to live quietly inside me

(11)     - Looking for exit to escape -

(12)     You've already seen it

(13)     Just giving up, there's nothing fragile to protect…

(14)     This love is a thrill, shock and suspense

            Running away from you and myself, where I got to was

(15)     Nowhere, I won't need ways to escape anymore

(16)     Because I found out no matter how many tears are shed, nothing will collapse

@~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~            @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~           @~'~,~

And now for my customary little note at the end:  I'm glad all of you have been enjoying this little fic so much!  I must say I've been enjoying writing it!  I know it looks like things are winding down, but don't believe everything you hear ^_~  There's plenty more story to go!  After all, you never know who might hear what about who these days, ne?  Even so, the next chapter will probably take another week or so.  Besides, now it's time for the WAFFy stuff!  Yay WAFF!!

One WAFF-crazed kitsune, signing off!  Amaya-chan Over and Out!