GOMEN KUDASAI! **bows extremely apologetically** Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out, RL jumped up and tackled me, plus I had a little trouble figuring out who the players were going to be in this chapter, since it's a part of the descending action from the heist and all. Actually, I have to say a big "thank you" to ranma15177301291 (wow, Ranma, that's a lot of numbers x_x ^_^) who said all my introspection was actually appreciated. Since I can't seem to get out of the characters' heads, at least I know someone else enjoys my slogging around in there. You pointed out, completely rightly, that we didn't know what was going on in Kaito's head after he got shot and all, so I have tried to correct that fault, hope you like it!
Oh, and since it comes up in here, Marishiten will be explained (as well as I can, my sources were not extensive, unfortunately) at the end of the chapter, and if any of you know more about her, don't hesitate to send me an email or point out any glaring errors in a review!
Now on with the story!
Moonlight Shadow
Chapter 06:
The Trees that Whisper in the Evening
Hirano's operative hissed in pain as he pulled the playing cards out of the backs of his hands with his teeth. Kaitou Kid had disappeared off on his hangglider, the door to the stairs was locked, he couldn't go down the fire escape since the whole perimeter of the building was teeming with cops, and he could hear the distant chuffing of helicopters becoming a louder whirr. Only one option left. He lifted up the grating on one of the air-conditioning units and rolled inside, pulling the grate back into place from the inside.
Nakamori Ginzo had watched Kaitou Kid fly off with a mingled sense of trepidation and glee. He was slightly appalled at the thought of trusting his daughter into the hands of a thief, but at the same time, he knew the Kid well enough through all their encounters to know that he didn't let anyone get hurt. And besides, Minami trusted him, and Nakamori, strangely enough, trusted Minami. And he had other things to worry about, like catching that fiend who'd been shooting at his daughter as well as the Kid.
As the helicopters closed in, Nakamori ordered those of his men who were outside to begin scaling the fire escape, except for a few watching the exits, and the security forces, to whom he had insisted this was nothing they could help with, a matter for the police. The police inside he ordered to make sure the door from the roof remained locked and that noone came in through it.
As each officer reached the roof, he moved around the edge, moving quickly but carefully, until as a group they had ringed the entire structure. The last officer onto the roof reported down that everything was in place.
"Alright. Good. Now, how soon can we expect those helicopters?"
"They're another two minutes out still."
"You men up on the roof hear that? You've got two minutes to catch this guy. The Kid implied he'd made it so he couldn't get away, but he didn't say he'd rendered this guy harmless, so use all possible care in approaching him."
"Understood, sir."
The men on the roof began tightening their circle, scanning for any sign of their prey. They found his gun, and the bloodstained cards Kaitou Kid had shot him with, as well as the gem Kid had dropped, but there was no sign of the man himself. They began to look for any possible hiding places.
Once inside the air-conditioning unit, the operative worked his way through the intake (whose fan wasn't spinning, since somebody had oh-so-helpfully turned off the power) and into the building's ductwork. He had been very helpfully provided with the warehouse's blueprints by Takage-san the night before, and he pulled them out now. Using a small penlight clenched in his teeth he memorized the turns and drops he would need to make, then put the blueprint away. Continuing to hold the flashlight in his mouth he crawled slowly and deliberately along in the duct. The last thing he wanted was for the police to hear him. After all, he knew the rules about getting caught, and he had no desire to use his cyanide pill today. He would if he had to, of course, but he had information which could prove useful, and might redeem him from tonight's debacle. Kaitou Kid had seemed awfully familiar with that girl, and he was willing to bet she could be a useful tool to help control him. Not that, as an operative, he was allowed to imply taking initiative or making suggestions to his superiors, but he was sure they would see things the same way as he with no prompting on his part.
Koizumi Akako had had a bad feeling about tonight's heist. Of course, she wouldn't call it a bad feeling, that was far too mundane; she would have called it a premonition, or an omen, or even intuition, but at the root of it that was what it was; a bad feeling. She had gone to the heist as usual, but she had stayed on the outskirts of the crowd, and she'd kept her broom close at hand. She was glad for her foresight. To her well-trained third eye, there was a sickly darkness on the roof of the building. She tried muttering a spell to nullify or damage it, but she couldn't get it past Nakamori-chan's blazing aura. If anything, her aura was brighter and closer to bursting tonight than it had been at school. Akako estimated it couldn't last the night in its barely-contained state, and she wondered not-so-idly what would happen when it did burst open.
She didn't have to wait all that long to find out. She watched Nakamori-chan climb to the roof, she saw Kaitou Kid come out onto the roof as well, and she saw the gem he carried which was pulsing its aura in sync with Nakamori's. When she heard the first shot, she wasn't the only one to scream. She was reassured, though, that both of her classmates were still alive. The gem's aura flared and melded with Nakamori-chan's, but Akako realized with a start that the Kid had been injured. She watched in mixed horror and fascination as tendrils of Nakamori-chan's aura began to seep out of their containment. They seemed to be helping Kid to focus and ignore what looked to be a pretty serious wound, shoring up his aura and binding his consciousness.
Not two minutes later Akako watched as the two of them took off on the Kid's hangglider. She trailed them half a block back on her broom. For one thing, she was worried for Kaitou Kid's injury, but she also found herself strangely concerned for Nakamori-chan. Although why she should care what happened to her rival... But she did care, and it confused her a bit. As she flew she pondered, and by the time they had reached the National Library she had come to a conclusion: she was worried for Nakamori-chan because she had something in her which was so open and welcoming, despite her sometimes shrewish exterior, and Akako, worshipped though she was by students male and female alike, found herself very alone. Somehow when Nakamori-chan was around she didn't feel quite so alone, and she didn't want to loose that.
Hidden in the shadow of a building across the street, floating at the level of the library roof, Akako watched as the pair landed on the roof. She watched as they kissed, and it made her heart hurt so much... She almost closed her eyes to shut out the sight of them, but a second later she was glad she hadn't. Nakamori-chan's aura literally exploded with power, power so strong it was even visible to the magically-unaided eye, and the overflow of energy actually levitated her almost a foot into the air. The power then expanded to encompass Kid as well, filling in the gaps in his aura and healing and restoring his body as well. Akako nearly fell off her broom in shock when she at last was able to see and understand what the energy was: Nakamori Aoko appeared to be acting as a conduit for the shinriki of Marishiten, Warrior-Goddess and the Queen of Heaven. Aoko was a miko!? How could she have missed something like that? The more she thought about it, though, the more sense it made. After all, Nakamori-chan was well-suited to be the miko of a warrior-goddess, with that temper of hers, and she had always seemed bright to Akako's scrying, but she had never really analyzed the reason for it, simply accepted it.
Kaito shivered as the light flowed over him. It felt good. Strange, but good, almost like being wrapped in layer after layer of warm, plush towels. All the pain in his leg was gone, and he could even feel the fatigue which had built up over the past couple of days of worry being pushed away. When the light finally faded it left him feeling as if he'd spent a relaxing week at home and had just woken up from twelve straight hours of sleep. All of a sudden the light winked out altogether, and Aoko dropped from where she had been floating right into Kaito's arms as he moved lighting-quick to catch her. She was horribly pale, but she smiled at him.
"See! I knew there was something more I could do to help." she whispered with a smile as she reached out with a shaky hand to run her fingers through his hair, "Feel better?"
"Much!" he said with a grin. He hugged her close. "That was amazing, Ao-chan!"
"Mmm..." she mumbled and nuzzled her face into his neck, falling almost instantly into a deep sleep.
"She'll probably sleep like that for at least a couple of hours." a familiar female voice said nearby.
"Ah, Witch-san." Kid nodded politely. "I appreciate the reassurance, but I wasn't worried. Her father warned me this might happen."
"You were expecting this?"
"I was. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He disappeared in a cloud of smoke and feathers.
On the other side of the roof access door Kaito sighed. Akako was a nice enough girl in some ways, he supposed, but she put his metaphorical (or should that be metaphysical?) hackles up - always had, from the first moment he had stepped into the classroom and encountered her stare - and it made him eager to avoid close interaction with her for any length of time. It was a shame, really, she made such an effort to be helpful in her own weird way, and he probably saw more of her true self than any of their classmates who idolized her, but she wanted more from him than he could give; he had his own concerns. He unconsciously stroked Aoko's back as he headed for the Important Documents Reference Room, casually ignoring the sign that said "employees only". The lock was simple to pick, (and it was often left unlocked entirely) and there was a back staircase in there that lead right down into the basement, from which he could get across the street unseen and into his bolt hole. And then he'd call Jii. If Aoko was going to be asleep like this for two hours or more there was no way he could carry her home on his own, and he didn't want to have to deal with the questions a taxi driver or bus driver would ask about a teenage boy with an unconscious teenage girl.
Juggling a sleeping Aoko while opening doors and negotiating narrow passageways proved to be a bit of a challenging trick, but he found his skills more than adequate to the task and managed not to bump any of her extremities or make any undue noise on his way. He inwardly marveled at how light she was. He might tease her from time to time about her figure, but in reality he had always thought she was beautiful. Even now, with her "inner flames" banked down and all-but-hidden in unconsciousness, she was breathtaking. In fact, by the time he made it to his bolt-hole he was breathing harder and it had nothing to do with exertion.
This particular hideout was, or had been, a storage room for workers who maintained the storm drains in this area when they had first been put in, and it had a couple of major assets, one of which being a telephone spliced into the main line for the office building directly overhead. His first order of business, therefore, was to call Jii. He laid Aoko down on the small cot he had found in here which had to date from when his father was the Kid and dialed the familiar number of his mentor on the phone which sat next to the low couch. He smiled faintly as he looked around him while he waited for Jii to pick up. This had to be one of his most homey hideouts, what with the cot, the couch, and the rag rugs on the floor. It had always been like this as long as he had known about it, and he wondered now if it was his mother's influence.
"Moshi moshi." Jii picked up on the third ring.
"Hi Jii, it's me." Kaito said.
"Ah, how are you, young master? I trust tonight went according to plan?"
"Not entirely. I'm fine, but I kinda need your help. I have Aoko here with me, she's fast asleep and likely to stay that way for at least a couple of hours, and I need to get her home."
"What happened? Did she get into a cloud of your sleeping gas?"
"No, nothing like that. It's kindof a long story. A lot has happened while you were away these last few days."
"You can tell me when I get there then. Where are you now?"
"I'm by the National Library. You know the place."
"I do. Alright then, I'll see you there in about half an hour." Jii told him.
"Great! Thanks Jii, I'll see you then." Kaito hung up with a great sense of relief. Just one more call to make, then he could get changed and be ready to go home.
Inspector Nakamori was swearing profusely at the criminal's ability to evade capture when his celphone rang.
"Nakamori." he answered curtly.
"Ah, Inspector, so glad I managed to catch you." came Kaitou Kid's smooth tones.
"Kid. What's going on? Where's my daughter? I'm going to have words with Kuroba, he was supposed to be looking after her."
"She's safe with me, and I already spoke to her friend... Kuro...ba...-kun? He was most upset about what happened. He told me her eyes had suddenly glazed over and she had looked all out-of-it, then given him the slip in the crowd. He caught sight of her up on the roof and was heading up there when he saw us take off, so he followed us and caught up after we landed. He told me we should take her back to his house." the Kid explained.
"And why couldn't she just go home with him?" Nakamori asked suspiciously.
"Because you were quite correct in guessing that her power would blossom tonight, and right now she's..."
"Fast asleep." Nakamori sighed. "So you were injured, then."
"Emphasis on the past tense there, I'm certainly not injured any longer. In any case, Kuroba-kun and I will take your daughter to his house and let her sleep there."
"Is Kaito-kun there? I'd like to talk to him for a minute."
"Certainly." Kid agreed. He put his hand over the receiver. Nakamori could hear a muffled conversation between two male voices, then the muffling was gone and Kaito was on the line.
"Nakamori-san, you wanted to talk to me?"
"Yes. Kaito-kun, I want you to keep a very close eye on Aoko until you get home. Kid may be helping us in this case, but he has just been healed, and that tends to make a person sleepy, so I want you to be careful and watchful, and call me again when you get there. How long do you think that will be?"
"Kid-kun?" Kaito asked, "How long will it take to get back?"
"About forty-five minutes to an hour." came the Kid's voice, fainter than before, as though he was a couple of feet from the phone.
"Did you hear that?" Kaito asked Nakamori.
"Close to an hour, right. I'll expect a call from you in an hour then." Nakamori confirmed.
"Will do, Nakamori-san." Kaito agreed, "Talk to you then." he said cheerfully.
"Before you hang up, I need to talk to the Kid again." Nakamori said quickly.
"Okay." Kaito agreed. He handed the phone over and Kaitou Kid's smooth voice took over again.
"I'm surprised at you, Inspector, I would have thought you'd be just as glad not to have to talk to me again." he said.
"I'd rather not, but for Aoko's safety I figured you should know that the criminal who shot at the two of you managed to get away, although not with his gun, so you'd better be on your guard." Nakamori said sternly.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Inspector, you truly are a prince among men. I promise I'll be really careful getting the little sleeping beauty to safety. After all, didn't you say I was her white knight?" Kid's smile was actually audible over the phone line. "You just take care of your own self, wouldn't want my favourite police inspector getting hurt!" Kid said with a smirk and hung up.
With a few choice words and a frown, Nakamori hung up as well. So he had been right about tonight. He had to get in touch with Minami as soon as possible...that was if the clairvoyant miko didn't contact him first, which was just as likely to happen. After all, she was clairvoyant for kami's sake!
Well, in any case, he wasn't likely to get out of here anytime soon. Two crimes had been committed here tonight, and they would have to go over the building with a fine-toothed comb for any possible evidence left behind. Even though Kid's crime scenes were always pristine, there was still always that remote hope of a chance that he might have left some bit of incriminating evidence behind. And as for the shooter... unfortunately he seemed like the type who would leave few traces as well, altogether a frustrating evening.
After Kaito hung up the phone, he had a hard time quelling his laughter. It was always so much fun pulling the wool over Nakamori's eyes, and talking to him as the two different versions of himself had been just so... well, almost bizarre. He let himself laugh quietly for a minute, then he frowned as he thought about Nakamori's last piece of news.
"Dammit, I should've taken the time to tie the bastard up." he growled, "Or knocked him out with sleeping gas or something to make sure he stayed put."
He shrugged and reached into the small chest-of-drawers at the other end of the room for a change of clothes. Thank goodness he was well-practiced at changing quickly. With Aoko in the room, even if she was down for the count, he felt more than a little uncomfortable being in such a state of undress. He grimaced as he pulled his pants off and looked at his leg. It was no longer marred by a ragged bullet-hole, but however Aoko's healing worked, it didn't clean up blood. The blood covering his left leg was half-dried and horribly sticky. He could really do with a bath. The pants were a define write-off; even if he could get the bloodstains out, there were two nasty big holes where the bullet had passed through. He did his best to get what blood he could off his leg using a couple of bottles of water he had left there a few weeks ago, then gingerly slid his clean pants on.
Once he was back to his old self completely, he went over to sit cross-legged on the floor next to the cot where Aoko lay sleeping.
Akako sat dangling her feet from the edge of the National Library roof and doing some deep thinking. She had always harboured a secret hope that when Aoko finally figured out who Kaitou Kid really was, she would be so angry with Kaito that she would want nothing more to do with him. Instead, they seemed only to have become closer, if the kiss she had witnessed was any indication, and Akako had to reluctantly admit to herself that she would never be anything more than a friend to Kaito... That was if he was willing to accept her friendship after everything she had done, and the way she had flung herself at him. She refused to be embarrassed by her actions, she truthfully hadn't done anything wrong per say, but she did regret them.
Akako sighed as she heard again the memory of her onetime-master's words.
"It's your choice whether or not to obey the Rede, all things have freedom of choice after all, but remember Aka-chan, whatever you do, good or bad, the Threefold Law always applies, so you had better be willing to accept the consequences of your actions, especially if you impose your will on the will of others."
"Dammit Cassidy-sensei, why did you have to be right?" she said sadly, "And why does 'harm none' have to have such a broad interpretation?"
She hopped off the ledge and onto her broom with a thoughtful expression as she headed for home and bed. Perhaps her dreams would provide the answer she was looking for.
Hirano's favourite operative breathed a surreptitious sigh of relief as he got into his car, which he had parked four blocks from the warehouse. The police had been so concerned with looking for him on the roof, they hadn't even thought to watch the second floor outflow vent at the back of the building. But then, why would they be watching it anyway? He had shimmied down a convenient drainpipe before anyone caught sight of him and slipped into the shadows of the alley and he was virtually home free.
"At least the evening ended better than it started." he grumbled as the car's engine coughed to life.
Despite the rotten way his night was going, Nakamori-keibu had to smile when one of his officers handed him the moonstone they had found on the roof. He was smiling because he knew Kid had completed his "mission" of course, but everyone simply assumed his smile was because the Kid hadn't managed to get away with his heist. He calmly handed the gem to Takage-san, wearing his most professional face to hide his dislike of the man.
"Here you go. The Kid may have gotten away, but at least he didn't manage to escape with his target this time."
"I am most grateful." Takage bowed and grinned as he took the gem, "Hirano-san will also extend his gratitude to you, I'm sure."
Right about then Nakamori's cel phone began beeping.
"Please excuse me." he said as he ducked into a squadcar to get some privacy. "Hai, Nakamori desu."
"Ah, Ginzo-san, I'm so glad I caught you." said the sweet, slightly breathy female voice on the other end of the line.
"Minami-san! I was going to call you, but I'm still at the site of Kid's latest heist."
"You know then that Aoko-chan's power has blossomed? I would have called you right away when I felt it, but I couldn't remember where I had put your phone number." she said, sounding a little abashed.
"Yes, the Kid was shot, and she apparently healed him. Oh, and about Kid: something struck me as a little strange. From what you said ten years ago I always assumed that Kuroba Kaito was to be Aoko's protector, and yet Kaitou Kid has informed me that you told him it's his job."
"Well actually, in a way, both of them are her protector." Minami explained, "When Kaitou Kid isn't around, Kuroba-san is there keeping an eye on her, almost like two halves of a whole protector."
"Two halves of a whole, ne? Well, if you say so I guess they are."
"In any case, Ginzo-san, Aoko-chan will need to study with me for a while to gain control of her power. It doesn't have to interrupt her regular studies, she could come for a few hours on Sundays if that would fit her schedule, but I would like her to bring Kuroba-san with her, if that's possible."
Nakamori laughed. "I'm sure if I put it the right way, Kaito-kun will be more than willing to tag along, but why do you need him there?"
"There is still a threat to Aoko-chan, is there not? And he needs to know how her power will work and what the triggers will be, since he'll be taking care of her."
"So you've seen that, have you?"
"Ginzo-san, it's not like it takes prescience to see something like that! It's written all over his face!" Minami giggled
"You've been spying again, haven't you." Nakamori accused her.
"Of course I have, I have to keep my hand in somehow or I'll loose all my skills from brain atrophy." she said in a faux self-righteous tone.
"Mariko always did say you were a busybody." Nakamori chuckled. "Since you suggested Sundays, why don't we meet for lunch tomorrow. That will give all of us a chance to get some sleep tonight and be well-rested to field all the questions they will no doubt throw at us."
"Alright, lunch it is, then!" Minami agreed.
As he sat beside Aoko waiting for Jii to arrive, Kaito kept replaying the events of the heist in his head. It had been strange just how calm he had stayed after being shot, and he was at a bit of a loss to explain it. It was almost like he had internalized his poker face, which was not something he had ever done before. Even when he was shot from the sky in that "Memory's Egg" debacle, he had been fully aware of his inner level of panic, even if he hadn't showed it, but this time was different. This time he had felt only the adrenaline rush of... Strangely, he could only call it battle, since the rush he got from a heist was different, manic where this had been calm. It was almost like something had taken over his brain and shut down everything except the functions necessary to get through alive, and it hadn't worn off until he and Aoko were out of immediate danger.
"Well, whatever it was, I'm glad for it. Otherwise I might not have been able to keep you safe." he said softly to Aoko. "I wasn't all that afraid for myself, but the thought of you getting shot..."
He couldn't even articulate the horror and pain that he felt at imagining such a thing, so he took her hand in his, and laid his head next to hers on the pillow, reassured by the steady beat of her pulse under his fingers and the gentle wind of her breath on his cheek. He closed his eyes - just for a minute - and was almost instantly asleep.
Jii found them like that when he arrived twenty minutes later, and he had to smile. It was about time things changed between those two. After all, it wouldn't do to let the Kuroba line die out, and he could hardly imagine the young master settling with anyone else but her; he'd long ago become resigned to their attachment. Their pose was so sweet he could hardly resist the urge to capture it for posterity, so he pulled out the small digital camera he always kept on hand and managed to get a couple of different angles before Kaito opened his eyes. Sometimes it really paid to be able to dampen his ki. Of course, it also didn't hurt that he was familiar to the young master. Kaito had quite an awareness of who and what was around him, even when he was calmly sleeping he didn't miss much.
"You two make quite the picture, I take it that Aoko-san falling asleep is not the only thing that happened tonight, you're not usually so tired this soon after a heist."
"They're all interrelated. First I should tell you, so you don't hear it somewhere else and worry, I got shot in the leg tonight on the heist. I'm fine now, I'm...healed, but the pants I was wearing are a write-off, we're going to have to dispose of them."
"You got shot but now you're healed." Jii repeated calmly, never one to overreact.
"Yes. You see, as it turns out... Do you remember me telling you I was worried about Aoko having nightmares all the time?" Kaito asked as he picked Aoko up gently to carry her to the car.
"I do remember that, yes."
"Well, it seems the nightmares were premonitions about tonight, and a sign that she was coming into her ancestral powers as a miko."
"A miko?"
"Yeah, it surprised me too, but apparently she comes from a long line of miko whose primary power is healing. The reason she passed out tonight is because she healed my bullet wound. Oh, and she knows who I am, she saw it in her premonition dreams and Kaachan confronted me about telling her, since she'd kinda figured it out anyway, so, yeah..." he trailed off, watching Jii who was watching him silently as he settled Aoko in the back seat of the car and buckled her into place. "Oh, and I also found out a couple of days ago that the same syndicate that killed Touchan killed her mother too, and I'm supposed to protect her in case they find out who she is and come after her."
"So to recap, in the last two days or so, you've found out Aoko's a miko whom the syndicate could be after and whom you have to protect, told both your mother and Aoko the truth about the Kid, prepared for and executed a heist, been shot, and been healed through some arcane method. Is that it?"
"Oh yeah, and the Angel's Tear I was after on this heist actually belongs to Aoko, so Nakamori gave me a fake to replace it with, since we have a kindof temporary truce for the duration of my having to protect Aoko."
Jii just shook his head in amazement. "I think you're going to have to give me this one in the long version, the summary is just too much to summarize, apparently."
"Alright, I'll fill you in on the way home." Kaito agreed as he settled into the passenger seat.
Kuroba Meimi paced her husband's workshop, growing steadily more frantic with each circuit around the floor. She almost half-wished she hadn't even turned on her police scanner tonight, but she always listened to Kai-chan's heists whenever she could, and why should tonight be any exception? Everything had been going fine, she had even been laughing at his musical distraction, then all of a sudden she heard the words which froze her where she stood. First Aoko-chan said something about "I'm not the one injured here!" then she heard the fateful words from Nakamori:
"Kaitou Kid, stay where you are, we want to get the shooter."
She instantly realized her worst fear - her son had been shot. Not just shot at, but shot.
She tried to reassure herself that he was still talking and obviously well enough to manhandle Aoko to safety, but she had always harboured a horrible feeling that she was going to loose her son the way she had lost her husband, and the more time that passed without Kaito walking in the door, or calling to let her know he was okay, the sicker she felt.
It was now almost an hour and a half that she had been pacing up and down. She kept trying to reassure herself with the thought that he was a strong boy, kept reminding herself that he had no idea she kept a police scanner and thus didn't have any way of knowing that she would be so worried about him, so why would he call her, especially if his wound wasn't life-threatening, but she was still his mother, after all, and the thought of her baby boy hurt and suffering was intolerable to her. As soon as he got home - and what was taking him so long anyway? - she was going to hug him as tight as she could, and then she was going to tear a strip off him for being so inconsiderate to his own dear mother...because of course he was going to come home...wasn't he?
They were almost to the Kuroba residence by the time Kaito had finished his detailed explanation of the events of the last couple of days. Jii, who had been mostly quiet through the whole story, finally spoke up.
"So show me this jewel you picked up tonight, I'm curious to see a bona fide magical stone." he said with a smile.
Kaito turned bright red. "Aoko would kill me! We'll just have to wait until she wakes up."
"Oh? Why's that? If she has it in her pocket surely it wouldn't be that difficult for you to slip it out and show it to me, then put it back."
"Because it's not in her pocket, that's why, she put it in her bra for safe-keeping."
Jii just laughed. "Alright, I suppose I can wait." he agreed, "I wouldn't want to get you into any more trouble with the young miss than you already are."
"You can say that again." Kaito said fervently, "I still have to explain to her about my reasons for keeping things from her. I just hope she's in a forgiving mood."
"Well, given what you told me they did to her mother, I imagine she'll be quite eager to see justice done." Jii reassured him.
"Kaachan said the same thing," Kaito admitted, "and she did take everything really well up to this point... Actually, I'm a little surprised at just how understanding Aoko's been with all this. Mind you, some of it must be shock. It's a lot to take in all at once, and she doesn't even know about the miko stuff yet, her dad's gonna have to tell her about that."
"Truly, I feel for the poor girl. She's lucky she has you to support her through all this."
Kaito laughed.
"Well, I'll drop you here." Jii said, turning onto the street parallel with the back of Kaito's house. "I'm sure you won't mind having to carry the amazing sleeping Nakamori there, eh young master Kaito?" he said with a wink.
Kaito grimaced. "If Aoko ever hears you call her that she'll take after you with a mop...or maybe one of your pool cues." he laughed as he unbuckled her and picked her up again.
Jii smiled. "That's why I said it while she was asleep. That way I'm safe. I wish you luck in your explanations once she wakes up."
"Thanks Jii, you have a good rest of the night too!" Kaito smiled, since he couldn't properly wave with his arms full of Aoko. He headed for home as Jii pulled away to do the same.
Kaito shrugged Aoko into a better position and she mumbled something he couldn't quite hear and nuzzled against him. All of a sudden his heart was racing again, not to mention the reaction from the rest of his body, and he was abruptly reminded that he had kissed this girl in his arms tonight - finally added his hormones - and she hadn't seemed to have any objections to the idea... He firmly shoved his hormones down and told them what they could do with themselves, since Aoko was still fast asleep. His hormones countered with an image of how he might wake her up a la fairytale. It was tempting to see if that might actually work, but then he thought of how injured he'd been, and how much energy it must have taken to heal him, and his hormones reluctantly bowed in defeat to his protective instincts. He softly stroked her back.
"Just stay asleep Ao-chan. I'll be right here if you need me." he whispered.
She sighed and settled down again.
He snuck down the ally and into one of the entrances to his father's lair. Even after being the Kid for more than a year, he still couldn't think of it as his for some reason. He walked down the passageway silently, having done it so many times that he knew every squeak and rough spot that might trip him up, so he had no need of a light. Besides, there was a light up ahead which seemed to be coming from the workshop. He must have left it on. He did that sometimes without meaning to, usually when he was a bit distracted with a heist. He thought he'd turned it out, but... His thoughts were interrupted when he heard noises in the workshop as well. It sounded like someone in house scuffs pacing back and forth. He slowed down his approach and sidled along the wall to a spot where he could see around the corner without being seen. He didn't honestly think some sort of dark assassin had found him out, snuck into his house and the secret hideout, and was wearing house-scuffs to trick him into thinking there was no threat, but he couldn't be too cautious, especially when he had already been shot once tonight.
Of course, it wasn't any kind of "dark assassin" who was pacing back and forth, it was his mother, who looked right at him as she turned to pace back, having been habitually checking all the entrances in her worry.
"Kaito! You're back! Oh Kami-sama, finally!" she cried, running toward him. "Do you have any idea how frantic I was? You didn't call, you didn't come home... Are you okay? Where are you hurt? I heard everything over the police scanner, so you'd better not try to deny it, young man." she said sternly. All of a sudden she became aware of Aoko in her delinquent son's arms. "And what happened to Aoko-chan?"
"Her power blossomed." he explained. "Which means I'm fine now, since she healed me, but she'll sleep for a while longer."
"You're fine? But you were shot! How can that be?" Meimi asked, stunned.
Kaito smiled gently as he set Aoko down on the old futon he kept down here for late nights. "It seems Aoko's quite a powerful miko - or maybe it was the Tenshi no Namida's influence - I don't know, but either way, thanks to her I'm back in one piece."
Meimi let out a deep sigh she hadn't even realized she was holding. "Alright, since you are indeed in one piece, then answer me just one thing: what took you so long to get home! Do you have any idea how frantic I was?"
"If I'd known about your police scanner I promise I would have called and let you know I was okay. I was kinda stuck out at the National Library, since Aoko fell asleep and I don't want to wake her. Probably couldn't even if I wanted to she's that deep out of it. She has to sleep to recover from using her power."
"So how did you get back here?" Meimi asked. "I'm sure you didn't use the bus, not with a sleeping girl!"
"You know Jii?"
"Yes, of course I do. So he gave you a ride home."
"Yup! Oh, and I have to call Nakamori. Promised him I'd call as soon as I got home."
"In a minute. You still owe me a hug, young man! I was worried about you!"
Kaito laughed, then went over to his mother and enfolded her in his arms. "Sorry for worrying you Kaachan." he apologized.
She squeezed him tight, then released him with a swat to the backside. "You'd better be sorry! And next time you're late getting home, I expect a phone call!"
"Hai, Kaachan." he said repentantly.
"Alright, now you can phone Ginzo-san. He's probably just as worried about Aoko as I was about you." she said, handing him the phone.
Nakamori had just finished wrapping up his investigation of the crime scene and was heading back to headquarters when his celphone rang again. He checked his watch as he answered. Just over an hour since he had talked to Kaito-kun, so he must be home.
"Nakamori."
"Hi Nakamori-san, it's Kaito."
"I thought it might be you, Kaito-kun, the timing was about right. You made it home in one piece then? Nothing else happened on the way?"
"Nope, we made it back fine. Aoko hasn't woken up yet, although she was showing signs of regaining consciousness a few minutes ago."
"Well, she'll wake up when she's ready. I suppose the Kid disappeared again." he said with a sigh.
Kaito leaned back in his chair and winked to his mother. "Yeah, Kid's long gone. He dropped us a block from here, then left for who-knows-where. Yawning a bit, but otherwise he seemed his usual self."
"Hmm...You didn't happen to find out anything about him, did you? Since you were around him for so long."
"Nope, he was pretty closemouthed about anything important" Kaito said with a cheerful shrug. All of a sudden his attention was caught by Aoko, who rolled over, mumbling something about getting to school on time, then sat up. "You're not supposed to be up yet." he chided her.
"Is Aoko up, then?" Nakamori asked.
"Morning Kaito. Where am I? I had the weirdest dream..." she looked around more thoroughly. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" she said softly.
"Yes, she's awake. Did you want to talk to her?" he asked. To Aoko he said, "Not a dream this time Ao-chan, sorry."
"You're back at our house." Meimi whispered to her, "This is Toichi's hidden workshop."
"I guess I have some explaining to do, so I should probably talk to her." Nakamori sighed.
"Your dad wants to talk to you." Kaito said, walking over to hand the cordless phone to Aoko.
"Tousan? What happened tonight? It was like someone had taken sections straight out of my nightmares! And then I felt this pull inside my heart, and then the Kid was all cured...and now I'm back at Kaito's place. What's going on?"
"It's kindof a long story, so why don't I just give you the short version for tonight, since you must be tired." Nakamori suggested.
"What is it with all the 'long stories' lately?" Aoko sighed.
"Who else was telling long stories?" he asked, confused.
Aoko realized she couldn't exactly explain what she was talking about just as she opened her mouth, so she changed her answer on the fly.
"Oh, just Kaito. He still has yet to explain to me why he didn't do anything to capture the Kid when he had the chance." she explained, looking over at Kaito as she said the second part. It was close enough to the truth.
"Ah." her father said, with an odd tone of voice, like he was thinking about something else. "Well, Aoko, the story goes like this: You're a miko, and so was your mother. It's genetic, and it's something you grow into. I never told you about it before for your own protection. Your mother didn't just die from a random illness; there is a crime syndicate who would do just about anything to gain 'immortality' and they poisoned her with thallium to try and make her give them that moonstone Kaitou Kid gave you tonight."
"Mama was killed? Murdered?" Aoko asked, outraged, "Why didn't you ever tell me any of this?"
"Because we were, and still are, in hiding, and I was sworn to secrecy until your power blossomed, which is what happened tonight. Besides, I didn't want you growing up with the thought that you had to take revenge...or living in fear all your life waiting for them to come for you."
Aoko sighed. "Not that I feel any more secure about it having just found out now."
"I know," Nakamori said sadly, "and I'm sorry for that. If it'll make you feel any better, you do have people looking out for you."
Kaito heard the fear and uncertainty in her tone and went to sit next to her. "Don't worry Ao-chan, I won't let them so much as touch you." he said quietly but firmly.
She gave him a little smile and leaned against him. "Thanks Tousan, that does make me feel better." she said.
"Good. Well, I shouldn't keep you up, I'm sure you'll be wanting more sleep, and you have an aunt to meet tomorrow who can explain everything way better than I can, so I'll say goodnight. Don't worry about coming home; I won't be finished at work for at least another hour, so you just crash at Kuroba-san's house, I'm sure she won't mind."
"Okay Tousan, I'll see you in the morning then. Oyasumi nasai."
"Oyasumi Aoko." her father said as cheerfully as he could manage, then hung up.
Aoko hung up as well, then turned to Kaito.
"Are you going to be okay with all this?" he asked her.
"Did you know? Did you know my mother was murdered and I was in hiding?"
He nodded, subdued.
"And you didn't tell me? How long have you known?"
"Only two days, and I wanted to tell you, only I haven't really had an opportunity, you know? I've been slightly busy explaining my own situation. I was going to get to it eventually."
"I guess you did have a lot to explain." Aoko conceded. "What I wonder about, though, is the ones who killed Mama. They sound kindof like the syndicate you were telling me about before."
"That's because they are the same, or at least branches of the same black organization." he confirmed.
What she saw in Kaito's eyes made Aoko gasp it was so dark. At the sound of her surprise, though, his gaze softened.
"You must still be tired Aoko-chan, not to mention the rest of us," Meimi interjected, "Kai-chan, why don't you get the guest room ready, and I'll get one of my spare nightgowns out, then we can all have a cup of tea to calm down and get some sleep."
"Okay Kaachan." Kaito agreed, taking the phone with him to hang it up on the way.
Aoko followed Meimi silently up the stairs and through the portrait of Kaitou Kid into the rest of the house, not sure whether she was feeling the lack of sleep or the shock of what see had learned more clearly.
As she pulled a clean nightgown out of the second-floor closet, Meimi turned to Aoko.
"Now dear, I know you must be upset by all this, I certainly was when I found out about Toichi, and there wasn't nearly as much to that, but I want to assure you, Kai-chan had only your safety and happiness in mind when he decided not to tell you about him being the Kid. Boys can be silly that way, they never seem to realize that we girls are capable of handling any number of shocks to the system without breaking."
"I don't know, Meimi-bachan, I think Kaito just didn't trust me not to turn him in." Aoko said in a somewhat unsteady voice.
"And it hurts, thinking he doesn't trust you, that he doesn't care, doesn't it." Meimi sighed. "He does, you know. Care, that is. I know, I've seen the pain in his eyes when he looked at you over this past year or so. I honestly think lying to you and hiding from you hurt him more than finding out the truth about his father."
"But if it hurt him so much to lie to me, why didn't he just tell me the truth?"
"Because I just wanted some part of my life to be normal, to be the way it was before everything else changed. Besides, I didn't want to force you to choose between your father and me. It would make you hurt, and I didn't want that." Kaito said softly, coming up behind her. "I knew you would choose your father over me, I mean, why wouldn't you, right? He's your dad, after all."
"Kaito no baka!" Aoko half-sobbed as she turned on him, "If you had just told me your reasons before, I wouldn't have said a thing to him. I loved your dad too, and I... I..." tears started rolling down her face, and she was suddenly in his arms. "I almost lost you tonight, and I would never have known why you were gone, and I couldn't live like that Kaito, I just couldn't!"
"I'm sorry Ao-chan, honest I am. I just... I thought you'd be safer if I kept you at arms' length, kept you from getting involved..." he let out a depreciating half-laugh and tucked her head under his chin. "Guess that was kindof pointless, seeing as how you already were involved and I just never knew, though, wasn't it?"
"Kaito... I won't say anything to my father, although I think he suspects something already from my dreams. I want to help you. These syndicate guys - they've already hurt too many people. I had to grow up without a mother because of them, you lost your dad..."
She didn't get any further than that; with what almost sounded like a choked-back sob, Kaito tilted her head up and kissed her, soundly, and with a degree of passion she hadn't expected him to show. Smiling, Meimi snuck off to make some hot chamomile tea before the two of them remembered she was there and got embarrassed.
When Kaito finally pulled back to catch his breath, Aoko nuzzled her face into his neck.
"I'm still mad at you, you know, you should have had more faith in me." she said softly.
"I know, and I promise I'll make it up to you from now on." he assured her. "Now c'mon, you've got your nightgown, it's time for you to go to bed." he said with a smile, followed by a cavernous yawn. "And me too... MAN am I tired!" He hugged her tightly one last time, then let her go and walked her to her room.
"Yasumi." he smiled at her.
"Oyasumi, Kaito." she smiled back and blushed, then ducked her head and slipped into the room. She could hear him whistling as he walked down the hall to his own room and it made her feel warm and very… safe, somehow.
When Meimi came back with the tea, both of them were in their beds, and dead-to-the-world asleep. She set the tea down on the hall table and tucked each one in, first Aoko then Kaito, then with a gentle kiss to her son's forehead she headed for bed and (hopefully) sleep as well. Her last fleeting thought was one she often had – she wished her husband was here.
There! Now the day is finally over, and everyone can recharge to meet the new challenges of tomorrow… and there will be challenges, I can promise you that!
And speaking of promises, I said I would explain Marishiten, so here goes with my best explanation: As I understand it, Marishiten is a Goddess borrowed originally from the Hindu pantheon. She is a deity of light, the light of the moon and the sun, and especially the light of dawn. In Japan, warriors pray to her to bring them focus in battle, much the same way Norse or Celtic warriors prayed to their Gods and Goddesses for strength in battle, but instead of the fierce berserker rage those deities granted, Marishiten grants a detached calm which allows the warrior to ignore pain and focus only on the battle around him. Apparently she is still invoked by martial artists (I found a lot of karate pages dedicated to her). As for the healing, it is a common trait of many miko, irregardless of which deity they channel.
In today's chapter I used the term "shinriki". This refers to a god's energy or "ki" which humans can tap into or channel, and as such, it's a little more specific and limited than simply referring to the god's "power", sorry if anyone was confused by the term!
Oh, and one more thing. I made some references to Wicca in relation to Akako. I'm not trying to claim she is Wiccan, just that she had a teacher at some time who was. Although her magick does seem to suggest some Wiccan influences, there are also Quabbalistic bits in there too… bit of a mishmash, gonna have to play with that later… If I do make her predominantly Wiccan it'll be because that's what I know better, and no implication that there's anything wrong with Quabballistic stuff. ^_^;;
Well, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter, and I'm still working hard, so there should be another chapter by next month… I won't promise it any sooner than that, since I have a lot of research to do for it…gotta make sure all my Miko stuff is accurate!
