Well, finally here it is, what you have all been waiting for, the next chapter of Moonlight Shadow. Actually it's been written for a while but I couldn't post it due to computer troubles.
In any case, this chapter needs an extra disclaimer right now before you all skip over the boring part and right into the story. This chapter contains a fairly detailed description of a magickal ritual. PLEASE do not attempt magick yourself unless you already know what you're doing or have someone with you who does, and please don't use this ritual as a guide. I have deliberately left out some very important points, and while it is authentic, and it is the way I would do it, it is not the way everyone would do magick, so also keep that in mind.
Also, related to the last warning, this chapter does contain nudity, BUT it is not in any way sexual. If I receive complaints I will up the rating, but I don't feel it warrants anything higher than PG13, since I don't describe anything.
All that being said, please enjoy the chapter! And I already have both chapter 8 and a background story in the works, so they should be along in a couple of weeks perhaps. Before December in any case.
Moonlight Shadow
Chapter 07: Caught in the Middle of a Hundred and Five
Around seven AM, Aoko drifted into wakefulness. She was still a little sleepy, but she had too much on her mind to simply roll over and snooze off again, so she got up and shrugged on a borrowed dressing gown, checked quickly in the mirror to make sure her bangs weren't sticking straight up or anything embarrassing like that, and wandered into Kaito's room.
Kaito was sprawled out on his bed, still dead to the world, and Aoko chuckled as she sat down next to him. It reminded her of when they were younger. She had always been an earlier riser than he was, even if she wasn't particularly coherent or conscious when she woke, and when they used to have sleep-overs as children she had taken great delight in tormenting him until he joined her in the world of the waking.
Aoko smirked wickedly to herself. If she remembered correctly, Kaito was particularly ticklish on the sides of his knees, and the way he was sprawled out only half-under his blankets gave her perfect access to one of them. She leaned over and was just about to run her fingers ever-so-lightly over his skin when her hand was caught in one of his.
She muttered one of her father's favourite expressions as he laughed and smiled at her with his eyes still closed, obviously fully conscious although he showed no other sign of having woken up.
"Nakamori-san! I am appalled! Attempting to molest me in my own bedroom? What can have come over you?" he said, keeping his voice down so his mother wouldn't wake up.
"Hentai! Why would I try to molest you?" she hissed, aiming a swat at his head. He caught that hand before it could connect as well.
His smile widened as he raised both hands over his head, causing her to loose her balance and fall over him. "No, you're right, I'm sure you had no ulterior motive whatsoever in being on my bed while I was sleeping." he said in a voice full of lazy irony.
"Okay, so maybe I was going to tickle you awake..." Aoko admitted, "But I wasn't trying to molest you, baka."
"Mmm... shame that." he said, his grin practically splitting his face as his arms moved around her before she could blink or get away, "I guess I'll have to be satisfied with just having you here with me for a bit." His expression turned thoughtful. "D'you know, two nights ago your nightmare was so bad your dad insisted I stay the night. I fell asleep and woke up with you all snuggled up to me... I really liked that feeling, but I didn't think I'd be allowed to enjoy it again, so could you just stay here for a little while?"
Aoko blushed brightly, but she also found herself relaxing against him. "Okay." she whispered, shifting her arms down so they were around his shoulders and pulling her legs up onto the bed. He tightened his arms around her and she smiled through her blush. "I like this too." she agreed.
As she lay there snuggled with Kaito, his blankets trapped between them, Aoko found herself mildly surprised at how... comfortable she felt. Even if the situation did make her blush a bit, it was a happy blush. If this had been any other boy, she admitted to herself, she would be struggling willfully to get away, but this was Kaito, she'd known him for years and years, and even if he had lied to her about the Kid, (and she was still mad at him about that) she trusted him, or at least trusted him not to do anything to hurt her.
'And he kissed you last night.' her inner voice pointed out gleefully, 'Twice. And you weren't dreaming this time.'
Aoko wondered about that. It was unlike him to be so physically demonstrative, especially in the last couple of years when it had almost seemed like he had put a thin wall of ice between them. And that had been going on longer than he had been Kaitou Kid, so that couldn't be the reason for it.
"Ne, Kaito," she said softly, "how come you kissed me yesterday? Not that I'm complaining or anything, I just..."
"Baaa-ka." he replied drowsily, squeezing her a little tighter, "Kissed you 'cause I like you. Have for years."
"Then how come you never kissed me before?"
"Didn't think you'd want me to. Didn't think you'd let me, really."
"You're the baka then. If I'd known you liked me I would've."
"Hontou?"
"Hontou."
"Damn." Kaito sighed with feeling. "Oh well, guess I just have to catch up for lost time then." He tilted her head up and leaned down slightly to catch her lips with his.
Knowing now how he truly felt, Aoko found herself being drawn deeper and deeper into the small world their bodies created between them... it just felt so right. The decision to stop, when it finally came, was a mutual one, and somehow Aoko could still feel that deep connection thrumming between them like the plucked string of a samisen. She closed her eyes and snuggled her head back into his chest, and proceeded to fall right back to sleep.
Hakuba Saguru didn't sleep that Saturday night. He hadn't been allowed on the heist-watch, (which only reinforced his private impression of Nakamori-keibu as incompetent in not putting to use all the resources at hand) so he had decided to stake out Kuroba-kun's house instead. He waited and waited, drinking can of cold coffee after can of cold coffee, but although he saw lights come on and go off throughout the night, he never saw anyone enter or leave the house after Kuroba-kun and Nakamori-kun left to go to the heist. He was mildly disappointed, but not terribly surprised to learn that Kuroba-kun had alternate entrances to his house, Saguru had guessed as much before. No, Kuroba-kun getting in without alerting him was no shock, the shock came at nine thirty-six the next morning when both Kuroba-kun and Nakamori-kun left by the front door again. Together. Saguru watched them head down the street to Nakamori-kun's house, slowly becoming aware that his jaw was currently located somewhere around his knees. It only dropped lower when he noticed them holding hands, their fingers interlaced, and the way Nakamori-kun blushed when Kuroba-kun leaned over to whisper something in her ear before they headed up the stairs into her house. He forced his mouth shut with an audible click and rubbed his eyes to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep and just dreamed seeing those two as a couple. He had been aware for a long time of the connection between the two of them of course - who wasn't, after all - but he had also been aware of the efforts of Kuroba-kun to keep Nakamori-kun at a safe distance; something Saguru greatly approved of. Even hampered by the massive amounts of caffeine he had ingested over the course of the night his analytical genius didn't have any difficulty adding up the facts of this newest development.
Fact #1: Nakamori-kun and Kuroba-kun leave a building they had to have entered in secret.
Fact #1a: Only Kuroba-kun should know how to get into that building undetected.
Fact #2: Kuroba-kun is being open about his feelings for Nakamori-kun, a new development in the last twenty-four hours.
Fact #3: Nakamori-kun reciprocates the show of feelings and allows intimate contract between the two of them without any apparent threat of repercussions.
Fact #4: Previous to this morning, Kuroba-kun had made a great effort to keep Nakamori-kun from getting too close to him in order to protect his secrets and her.
Conclusion: At some point the night before, Nakamori-kun had found out Kuroba-kun's secrets - both of them - and she was okay with them.
Saguru was, quite frankly, appalled.
Around nine thirty, after sleeping in and a pancake breakfast courtesy of Meimi, Kaito and Aoko headed back to Aoko's house. Just as they were leaving, Kaito noticed that Aoko seemed a little nervous about something, so he reached over and caught her hand in his.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing really..."
"Right, nothing..." Kaito rolled his eyes.
"It's just, Tousan said I'm supposed to meet this aunt from Mama's side of the family today. I never even knew I had any relatives on my mother's side, what if she doesn't think I'm ladylike enough? And yes, I am aware that I'm a bit of a tomboy."
Kaito shifted his hand-hold so that their fingers were interlaced, then smiled at her and squeezed her hand, causing her to blush brightly. "There. If anyone accuses you of being unladylike, just blush like that and they'll take it all back!" he said cheerfully.
She growled and hit him on the back of the head with her free hand, but she still held on tightly with the other as they left the house.
It was a short walk back to her house, and a quiet one as well, but this time it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, they both said all they needed to say in the connection between their two hands.
When they reached Aoko's house, just before they went up the stairs, Kaito turned to whisper in her ear.
"I should probably let go of your hand before your dad sees and skins me alive." he said regretfully.
"Don't worry. If he makes a fuss about it I'll tell him to mind his own business." Aoko said, then blushed and ducked her head bashfully. "I like holding your hand, I don't want to let go." she insisted.
Kaito's broad smile spoke volumes and he squeezed her hand again as she went fishing for her keys.
Nakamori was still lingering over a second cup of coffee at the breakfast table when he heard the door open and close, followed by his daughter's cheerful "Tadaima!" and the sound of shoes being exchanged for house slippers. He set down his mug and headed into the living room before calling "Okaeri" back.
Now Nakamori Ginzo has sometimes been accused (although rarely to his face) of being slightly unobservant when it comes to his only daughter. He should be commended, therefore, for taking less than a minute to notice how intimately her fingers were intertwined with Kuroba-kun's. He cleared his throat disapprovingly.
"Kuroba-kun, I believe I said something to you the other day about taking liberties..." he said sternly.
Kaito sighed and loosened his grip on Aoko's hand. No point deliberately aggravating Nakamori on off hours. Aoko, when she felt him do this, tightened her own grip and glared at her father.
"Tousan, if Kaito was taking liberties don't you think I would have hit him before now?" she pointed out in her sweetest voice. She turned and smiled at Kaito. "I should go have a shower and get changed, I'll be back in a bit." she said, then glared again at Ginzo. "And if you threaten Kaito while I'm gone I will know, and you will hear about it later." she said firmly. She squeezed Kaito's hand one last time before heading upstairs.
Once she was out of earshot, Kaito turned to Nakamori. "Scary, isn't she." he said with a smile.
"Sure is. I guess I'll let you off with a warning this time, but just see that it doesn't happen again." Nakamori said sternly.
Kaito raised one eyebrow. "Nakamori-keibu, was that a joke? You're picking up bad habits."
Nakamori laughed. "Your father used to say exactly the same thing, and I'll tell you what I always told him; as long as it doesn't affect my job, I can be just as funny as I damn-well please when I'm off-duty."
Kaito laughed at that.
"Besides, Aoko's right, I fully trust her ability to defend herself... when she's awake."
"I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of her while she's sleeping, I'm thrilled with whatever small shows of affection she's willing to concede me." he said seriously.
"You two seem more... comfortable together than you were." Nakamori pointed out. There was still a little suspicion in his tone, but he sounded more wistful than anything.
"After the scare she gave me last night, she and I talked about a few things." Kaito explained without really explaining.
It was enough for Nakamori, however. He nodded in understanding. "Her mother was the same way." he said softly, remembering.
"I wish I could have met her."
"In a way, you know, it's only because Mariko died that you got to meet Aoko. Of course, there's no way to know what would have happened if she had lived, but when Aoko was born we lived in Hokkaido, and there likely wouldn't have been any reason for us to move to Tokyo."
"It's strange how these things happen, isn't it." Kaito agreed.
They both went and sat down in the living room, and Nakamori resumed drinking his coffee. There was a somewhat uncomfortable silence, then Kaito spoke up.
"Aoko said something about meeting an aunt on her mother's side today?" he asked inquiringly, trying a lighter conversation topic.
"Yes, Mariko's cousin Minami is coming for lunch today. She is also a miko, although not a healer, and she'll be teaching Aoko how to control and use her power. Speaking of which, I'd appreciate if you would stay for lunch, since Aoko's bound to be a bit nervous."
"No problem." Kaito agreed, thinking back to Aoko's reaction before they left his house. "Besides, I want to know how this healing thing she does actually works."
Upstairs, Aoko finished her shower and rifled through her closet for a nice sundress. Her light blue one was feminine enough she decided, slipping it on. She gave herself a once-over in the mirror and, after applying soft pink lip gloss, declared herself fit to meet this aunt her dad had told her would be coming. She picked up the Tenshi no Namida from where it had been sitting on her bureau and rolled it back and forth in her palm. Such a small thing, relatively speaking, just a smooth bit of rock that happened to have interesting refractive properties, and yet people had been willing to kill both Kaito and herself to keep it, had killed her mother trying to get it...
"Namida indeed." Aoko said sadly as she slipped it into her bra again to sit over her heart. It made her feel calmer and more focused somehow. Yet another thing to ask her aunt about.
It was sounding pretty quiet downstairs, which was making Aoko a little nervous, so she headed down to make sure her father and her... she supposed she could think of him as her boyfriend now, she thought with a blush... hadn't killed each other. She was vastly relieved to see the two of them sitting in the living room having a perfectly normal conversation. A stray thought crossed her mind that if her father had actually known who he was talking to he wouldn't be nearly so calm. Imagining his reaction made her giggle, and both men looked over at the sound.
Kaito's smile, when he saw what she was wearing, was the same smile he'd had that morning, but with his eyes open it was far more powerful. She felt like she could fall into those deep pools of blue the way she had in her dreams. His gaze traveled down to her feet, then back up to meet hers again and he winked. Aoko blushed at that... then blushed brighter when Nakamori cleared his throat deliberately.
"You look lovely Aoko, now, why don't you have a seat. We have a couple of hours before Minami's expected, and I should tell you my side of the story so you have a bit of an idea what's going on."
Takage was sitting in his office weighing the moonstone in his hand and signing paperwork when there was a knock on the door. It being Sunday he wasn't expecting anyone, so he slipped the stone into his pocket and got up to answer the door rather than merely inviting them in. He was expecting it might be one of his security force, or perhaps an employee who had forgotten something, so he was rather taken aback to see two thickset men in black hats and trenchcoats.
"How can I help you, gentlemen?" he asked courteously.
"We need to talk with you about Kaito Kid." said the one on the left dispassionately in a lightly-accented voice. Wherever he was from, he was definitely gaijin.
"Of course! Please come in!" Takage stepped aside and the two trenchcoats walked in and sat down in front of his desk.
The trenchcoat on the right tipped his hat back and his sunglasses down to glare at Takage. "Headquarters wants to know why you have been ignoring their memos." he said sternly, and his voice was almost identical to his partner, accent and all. "You were sent a priority-one notice two days ago giving you explicit instructions on how to handle your encounter with Kaitou Kid. Specifically, you were to make no overtly threatening moves and attempt to trail him and discover one of his lairs so it could be bugged. From appearances you deliberately ignored orders and brought an assassination attempt to bear. If Kaitou Kid had been killed, we wouldn't even be granting you the courtesy of this warning visit, you would already be dead. You have only this one chance to redeem yourself, so start talking."
Takage had gone pale as a ghost and his hands were shaking. He noticed, as he met the man's eyes, that they were two different colours, the left was green and the right was blue, and that only unnerved him more. He'd heard stories about a man with bicoloured eyes... He swallowed convulsively and started to talk.
"I...we'd been having problems in the upper office with a prankster sending fake memos and advisories. We caught and dealt with him a few days ago, but we made a policy to disregard anything sent from the authorization code he'd pirated for the next couple of weeks in case he had set anything to be time-released. The memo's instructions seemed exactly like something he would have sent, so we assumed that was what it was and threw it into the shredder with the rest of his pranks."
"And why didn't you inform headquarters of this breach of communications?"
"It was an internal matter, and the authorization code he used was one we almost never received advisories from, so we weren't too concerned."
The trenchcoat who had been speaking turned to his quiet partner. "What do you say Meade? Can we let him off on this one, or shall we terminate him?"
"I don't know Whisky, He showed, on the whole, far too much initiative for his own good, but for the moment he's useful, we'd better let him live for now."
The one called Whisky pushed his sunglasses back up and his hat back down, then the two of them stood up abruptly, turned without saying another word, and left the room. Takage collapsed back into his chair with a heartfelt sigh of relief, then hopped right back up again and ran for his executive washroom.
When he had watched for half an hour more and seen no one leave the Nakamori residence, Saguru decided it was time he went home and got some rest. Even the finest deductive mind couldn't function without sleep, and he'd been up for twenty-seven hours and twelve minutes already. He resolved that once he woke up, he would pay a visit to Koizumi-kun. With her Kid-fixation she was sure to have been at the heist, and could give him a reasonably succinct run-down of events. Letting out a jaw-cracking yawn he rose and stretched, then ambled off toward home. He walked rather than taking the bus. The last thing he wanted to do was nod off on the bus and miss his stop.
Over the next hour or so, Nakamori told Kaito and Aoko the story of a young rookie cop by the name of Chohayashi Ginzo, and how he met and fell in love with a volunteer nurse. He talked about how she had eventually told him she was a miko, and of their marriage and the birth of their first child, a daughter. Then he told of the miko's nightmares, and her premonitions of danger, of her slow and agonizing death from an incurable poison, the heavy metal thallium, and her young husband's investigation into the culprits of the poisoning which led to his discovery of the syndicate and, soon after his wife's death, sent him into hiding with his daughter, heir to his wife's power.
At some point during the story, Aoko had begun to cry silently, tears simply leaking from her eyes to trickle down her cheeks. Kaito wordlessly put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, and she leaned against him.
Around eleven-thirty, as Nakamori's story had just finished, there came a knock at the door.
"That would be Minami." he sighed, "Making a timely entrance as usual." He got up and went to answer the door.
Aoko turned to Kaito and before she could even open her mouth to ask he handed her a handkerchief.
"Dab dear, don't rub, it only makes your cheeks and eyes redder." called a kindly female voice from the genkan.
Aoko nearly dropped the handkerchief in surprise. She knew perfectly well the living room wasn't visible from the door.
"Sorry dear, did I startle you?" Minami apologized as she came into the room.
Aoko looked up to see a woman in her mid-forties. Her black hair was pulled back in a tidy bun, the only sign of her age being two streaks of white at her temples. Her features reflected classical Japanese beauty, but her most striking feature was her eyes, which were a dark blue verging on lavender. Aoko dabbed hurriedly at her eyes before standing and bowing politely, followed quickly by Kaito.
"Oh Aoko-chan! No need to be so formal, stand up straight and let me look at you, I haven't seen you since you were a baby!" A wide smile broke out on Minami's face, and her mysterious air was banished like a cloud before the sun.
Aoko blushed slightly as she stood and met her aunt's gaze.
"You look just like your mother, you know." Minami noted.
Kaito frowned at that. "Will that put her in any greater danger?" he asked.
"You must be Kuroba Kaito-san, Aoko-chan's friend." Minami nodded politely. "You have a point there Kuroba-san. Given the right opportunity, there are those within the syndicate who might make the connection between Mariko and Aoko-chan, but I believe the chance of that happening is fairly remote."
Nakamori gestured for Minami to have a seat, and they all sat down again.
"If anything, Aoko-chan is in more danger from having been seen by possible syndicate connections in close proximity to - and being rescued by - Kaitou Kid. From what I've seen, the syndicate has been shadowing him for years now, just watching and waiting for him to find... something. Their actions last night were unprecedented, actually opening fire and attempting to harm the Kid."
"They were trying to kill him, not just hurt him." Aoko said softly. "That first shot was aimed right at his heart. If I hadn't caught his attention he would probably have died."
Kaito reached out and pulled her closer to him where they were sitting on the couch. "The Kid is just damned lucky you kept a calm head on your shoulders." he said.
"Calm under fire? That doesn't surprise me in the least. The Tenshi Miko are always miko of Marishiten. They can even channel that battle-calm to those around them if necessary." Minami explained.
Kaito nodded thoughtfully.
"Miko of Marishiten... Is that why the Tenshi no Namida makes me feel calmer?" Aoko asked, "I was wondering about that."
"Most likely that has something to do with it if you still feel threatened. From what records survive from the time before it was stolen, my understanding is that the Tenshi no Namida will sense the Tenshi Miko's mental and emotional state and tap into your latent miko power to deal with any apparent threat, and that would make you feel calmer."
Kaito wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close "You're still worried about last night?" he whispered to her.
"A little" Aoko admitted softly.
Kaito frowned slightly and snugged her closer, tucking her in against his side, and she rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh.
Nakamori scowled at their affectionate display, but Minami reached out and touched his arm to catch his attention before he could interfere, then shook her head sternly "Yesterday was hard on both of them, just let them be. They're under a lot of stress and they need this." she said softly. When he grudgingly backed down, Minami turned to Aoko "Probably the best way to not worry is to learn to use your powers. With training you'll learn what you can do, and gain some control over both yourself and the events going on around you."
Kaito winked at Minami. "Control hmm... does this mean I won't get mop-smacked so much? Maybe just on special occasions?" he grinned.
Aoko growled and whapped the back of his head. "Do you need a demonstration of how I'll continue mop-smack you when needed?"
Kaito squeezed her waist, then reached out and touched a finger to her nose, making her eyes cross. "Remember, you're supposed to be ladylike!" he chided her gently.
Aoko blushed at that, and Minami chuckled. "No need to restrain yourself on my account. I've never ascribed to the notion that girls should act proper and refined all the time. How horribly dull! They'd be doormats for the men in their lives, and men need someone to keep them in line. Besides, you're a miko for a warrior-deity for goodness sakes, if you were placid I'd be both shocked and appalled."
Aoko laughed a little depreciatingly. "Oh, I'm hardly placid." she admitted.
"Nope, you're not, but that's what we love about you, ne Nakamori-san?" Kaito said, turning to address her father, but watching her blushing face with appreciation out of the corner of his eye.
Nakamori briefly got the feeling Kaito was using the excuse of putting Aoko at her ease just to bait him, but he passed it off as overprotective father syndrome on his part. He had always known the two of them were close, but he was swiftly becoming aware of just how attached Kaito-kun was to his daughter. It was reassuring, really. He knew Aoko would be well-protected anyway, and cherished; and that was something every father hoped for for his daughter. He forced himself to smile back at Kaito.
"Well, before we get too deep into studying, why don't we all have something to eat?" Minami suggested. "And don't worry about cooking something for me," she told Aoko as the young woman made to get up, "we'll order in. My treat."
Ever since she had woken up that morning, Akako had been thinking. It was a beautiful day, but she hadn't gone anywhere or done anything but sit at home and mull over the events of last night and those of the past year or so. She had finally come to the conclusion that her glamours had to go. By making people - weak-willed though they might be - adore and idolize her, she was only damaging her chances of being loved for herself. She had once remarked that a witch's power was lost when she cried. In point of fact, crying might not have been such a worry for most witches, it was more that salt water and regret was the geas which would break her glamours. Thinking about it long and hard, she came to accept that her power was not in her glamours alone, she was powerful beyond such surface things, and once she had gotten rid of them, she resolved to have a good long cry about things. Someone had once told her that crying was good for the soul, and she needed something like that just now.
Her parents were away, and she had sent the staff out for the day, so it was very quiet in the house as she set up her altar in the workroom. It was just about the most unprepossessing room in the house when not in use, perfectly square, with a plain black floor and three plain white walls, the fourth bearing floor-to-ceiling wooden cupboards. The only piece of furniture was a low rectangular table in the center of the floor which served as the altar and a pile of zambuton kept in one corner. The quiet in the house was almost unnerving, and she found herself singing softly to the room as she arranged the candles and incense and all the necessary tools to perform magick. She kept the altar tools to a bare minimum. Since she would be uncluttering her self-image, she might as well keep the magickal space she was using uncluttered as well. It could only help the situation. The simplicity of the whole arrangement was rather pleasing to the eye when she was finished, and she stepped back to briefly admire it before going into the antechamber to change into her unadorned white robe. Banishing the glamours would be better accomplished skyclad, but she didn't want to have to break the circles to get the robe if she got cold afterwards. Finally ready to begin, she took a couple of deep, cleansing breaths and steeled her resolve. She could do this! She slipped out of her robe and laid it next to the altar, and picked up the bowl of sea salt to begin.
Her decision had been made, but Akako was amazed at how nervous she still felt. She almost felt like she was getting naked by dropping her glamours, but she knew it had to be done. Taking a deep breath, she cast the first protective circle with sea salt, starting and ending facing north. She backed up two steps and cast the next circle with pure water, then backed up three more steps to cast the third and final circle with salt water, setting down small candles and cones of incense as she went. Finally she knelt on the small rug in front of the altar in the middle of the three circles and lit the altar candles, calling the invocations to the five directions. For those who had eyes to see it, the very air shimmered with a protective dome of light whose edges mirrored the outer circle she had cast. Had anyone else come into the room at that time, they would have been very uncomfortable; there was a massive static charge building, although Akako, inside the barrier, was unaffected by it. Her long, thick hair absorbed the candlelight and gleamed with reddish highlights, and her pearlescent skin glowed from the warmth. She was nude before the kami, but the incense wreathed her form, and protected her from human eyes.
Akako closed her eyes and felt the energies of her various glamours flowing over her skin. As she concentrated on them, they became fully visible separate from her, a thin mask laid just above her own skin. The girl beneath looked very similar to the overlay, but she didn't...shine the same way. In fact, if anything she looked a little pale and wan. Before she could renege on her decision, she dipped her left hand into the bowl of salt water and touched the fingers of that hand to her forehead, drawing the shimmering full-body "adore me" and "immortal beauty" into her banishing hand. As she trailed her hand down her face and body the glamour disappeared like a soap-bubble bursting ever-so-slowly, and when it was finally gone, she buried her hand in the bowl of earth in front of her and dissipated the remnants of the spells. She dusted her hand off with a clean white cloth, then picked up a pinch of salt. With great deliberation she opened her mouth and placed her salt-covered fingers to her tongue and lips. Her mouth tasted like it was full of blood, and she watched with her mind's eye as the golden shine of her "honey-tongue" dissolved. She cleansed her hand with earth again, then meditated to calm herself. Her glamours had been a part of her so long that she had forgotten what it felt like to face the world, and the kami, without them.
Without her glamours she was still beautiful, but her mahogany hair didn't absorb the light the way it had, nor did the red highlights glimmer like they had, and her skin was still pale and fine, but no longer did it gleam like porcelain. The protected area inside the dome was swirling with barely-seen colours and particles of light like little magickal fireflies, and more were seeping in through the barrier although what unhealthy energies there were in the room were staying outside.
Akako was amazed how invigorating it felt without her glamours separating her from the world. She opened herself up to the flow of power around her and let it seep into her like water filling a dry sponge until it overflowed, pushing all the unhealthy energy out of her and making her radiant from within. She barely noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks, she didn't even feel particularly sad, but it was just such a release to be able to let out all the tears she'd been holding back for years. Strangely, the tears flowing over her face were restoring some of the beauty "lost" with her glamours.
When she felt completely calm and at peace, she dipped her right hand into her bowl of pure water, then into the bowl of sea salt, and drew a deosil pentagram on her forehead. It flared gold and white, then faded into her skin. She dusted the remaining salt off over her head, letting the grains cling to her skin and hair where they would. With a whispered prayer to the elements she cast a general protection spell to take the place of the protections which had been woven into her glamours. The new spell poured down over her in a cascade of honey-coloured light, and if felt a little like she had grown a very fine coat of fur, keeping her warm and protecting her delicate skin while at the same time extending her senses a few centimeters out from her body. With her new protections in place, Akako released the energies she had been holding onto and slipped her robe back over her head. The majority of the glow faded from inside the circles, but the altar candles and the circle candles retained an otherworldly glow. She had just one final spell to do, and this one needn't be nearly so formal. She took a small handful of rose petals, one of apple blossoms, and one of lavender. Her hands were surrounded by a magenta-pink glow as she mixed the three in a small bowl, and her lips sparkled as she spoke the appropriate words over it, then poured the softly-glowing dried flowers into a red silk pouch on a long cord which she sealed with a knotted red piece of yarn and slid over her head to nestle over her heart. Finally Akako was finished her spells for the day. She made a brief prayer of thanks to the kami who had assisted her, performed an obeisance to the five directions, then opened each of the three protective circles she had cast, at the south this time. Once the circles were open the energies she had used were absorbed back by their constituent elements and the room returned to its mundane state. She put everything away in its proper place and changed back into her day-to-day clothes, then headed for the kitchen. All that magick had made her hungry!
She was working her way through a large bowl of soup and a sandwich when the doorbell rang. She hadn't been expecting anyone, and the staff was still out, so she did a quick scan for auras as she headed for the door. When she realized who it was, she sighed in both relief and exasperation. Hakuba Saguru. The half-British boy had his uses, but he was far too obsessed with catching Kaitou Kid, and she didn't want the Kid caught. Even if she couldn't have him for herself, he was just so much fun to watch!
"What can I do for you, Saguru-kun?" she asked as she opened the door.
"You were at the heist last night, so you can start by telling me what happened."
"You mean the part where the Kid got shot, or the part where he and Aoko kissed?" Akako asked a little bitterly, deliberately trying to shock him.
"Okay, so it was a busy night. Why don't you start from the beginning." Hakuba suggested, looking somewhat stressed himself.
"It'll take a while, why don't you come in." Akako conceded, stepping back from the doorway to let him by.
After lunch, the discussion at the Nakamori household turned to the history of the Tenshi Miko and the Tenshi no Namida. Aoko had taken the gem out (causing Kaito to blush as she fished for it in her bra) and laid it on the low coffee table so everyone could see it. Apart from its size and lack of flaws, there was nothing visibly different between it and any other nicely-cut chunk of moonstone.
"So where did it come from in the first place?" Kaito asked.
"None of my resources reach that far back." Minami admitted. "Even the oldest records speak of the Tenshi no Namida and the Tenshi Miko as long-established, and I have records going back as far as the Heian Jidai. In all of those, the Miko's healing powers and the miracles she could perform with the Namida are a constant. There are even mentions of some of the stronger Miko bringing the dead back to life, although I wonder if those people would have been capable of being revived using modern medicine, obviously there's no way to know. The records are fairly explicit, however, in the way the Tenshi Miko's powers will appear and the way to train those powers. Once the young miko-to-be turns seventeen, she will begin to have prophetic dreams, and about six months after that, when there is some sort of crisis and someone she is close to is hurt, her power will blossom and she will heal for the first time. After that, she needs the same sort of training as any miko in order to gain control over her powers, since she will unconsciously try to heal anyone nearby of even the most minor ailments, to the point that she could drain her own resources."
"Which is why I finally managed to quit smoking." Nakamori pointed out.
Aoko laughed. "I knew there had to be a good reason for it. There's no way you could just quit all of a sudden after not bothering to for years."
"I tried before..."
"Right. Whatever you say." Aoko rolled her eyes.
Minami laughed. "In any case, for many years the Tenshi Miko were revered healers within the imperial court, until sometime during the Sengoku Jidai. The record isn't clear on exactly what happened, but a miko of our line fell out of favor with a member of the imperial family, and there is a gap of perhaps twenty years before any mention is made of them again. After that, the various miko tried their best to stay out of politics, realizing that their power was something which might become a point of contention, and this would only bring more trouble. With the help of another family blessed with power in their bloodlines, they moved north to Hokkaido and lived there quietly until the Meiji Jidai. During the early years of the Meiji, a gaijin "art collector" was touring Japan. He was a less-than-honest man, and knew that he could make a great deal of profit on small items and objéts d'art from the recently-opened country. During a tour of Hokkaido, he somehow came across the Tenshi Miko, and saw the Tenshi no Namida. Deciding that it might make a pretty trinket for some lovely European lady to wear in her hair, he offered to buy it. When he was (at first politely, then more firmly) refused, he took matters into his own hands, literally. Late one night he snuck into the miko's home, used ether to render her and her family unconscious, then took the Namida and left town that same night. The Tenshi Miko, her family and her friends, tried to get the Namida back, but they weren't able to catch him in time before he left Japan. With the Tenshi no Namida gone, the Tenshi Miko's powers were greatly reduced, but not gone by any means, and there have always been other miko in the family, quite often with great power of their own. One of these, a miko with strong prescient vision, foresaw a time when the Tenshi no Namida would return to Japan. She knew that the kaitou who would steal it back for us would need a duplicate to leave in its place, so a duplicate was commissioned and created, and news of the loss was kept within the family, who faded from the public eye as best they could. We're still not sure how the syndicate found out about us, or why they were so desperate for the Tenshi no Namida, but Ginzo-san here already told you what happened with your mother..."
Aoko nodded solemnly.
"And that is why you have to be so very watchful and careful now." Minami cautioned both the teens. "Last night, besides you and the Kid, was there anyone else there who might have seen Aoko's use of power?" she asked.
"Only one. A classmate of ours, Koizumi Akako." Kaito admitted.
"Akako-chan was there?" Aoko asked, confused, "I never saw her."
"That was after you passed out." Kaito explained.
"Oh."
"Is she a threat, this Koizumi-san?" Minami asked.
"I don't think so. She's been helpful to me before, and she seems friendly enough in her own way." Kaito rolled his eyes at that. "A little too friendly for my tastes, most of the time." he admitted.
Aoko frowned at him. "I don't understand why you have such a problem with Akako-chan."
"I think it's because I don't single her out for attention the way all the other boys do." he shrugged.
Nakamori and Minami both nodded knowingly.
"Is she the type to go after revenge if she's snubbed?" Minami asked.
"I doubt it. If she hasn't done anything before now, she's not likely to start. Besides, last night she could have just left and I would never have known she was there, but she made a point of coming over to reassure me after Aoko passed out. She is a witch, apparently, and therefore somewhat knowledgeable about these things... or at least that's what she told me."
"A witch, ne? We should be safe, but I'll pay her a little visit later to be sure." Minami nodded.
"One other thing about her you should know. She has a bit of a Kid-obsession." Aoko sighed, "Which is probably why she was there last night."
"I understand." Minami said with a smile. "Now Aoko-chan, it's time we sent the boys away and got down to work, wouldn't you say?"
"B...BOYS!?" Nakamori and Kaito spluttered in unison.
"Yes, boys. Now shoo!" she motioned to them to leave, then blew them a kiss as they stood up.
"I guess I really should check in at the office and see if they have anything to report." Nakamori admitted.
"And Kaachan did say there were some things she needed doing around the house, I should probably go see what I can do to help." Kaito put in.
"We'll see you later, then." Minami waved cheerfully.
When Hirano-san's operative got a call to report in to head office two hours after he had filled his report, he was understandably a little nervous. He didn't think he'd made any glaring omissions in his relay of events, but you could never tell with the higher-ups. Sometimes they called you in just to feel important. He adopted an appropriately humble bearing as he knocked at the door to the office of his superior. He might not know the man's real name, he was only ever allowed to refer to him as "Boss", but the operative was aware of just how much power Boss had over him.
"Come in." came Boss' slow, deep voice from the other side of the door.
He pushed the door open, willing himself to stay calm.
"Sit. I want to hear more about your encounter with Kaitou Kid."
He sat in the black-upholstered chair in front of Boss' massive ebony desk. "Well, first off, he makes a surprisingly difficult target for a guy in all white. I only got in one good shot, and that was because he was occupied getting the girl safe."
"Ah. Yes, the girl. Tell me more about her."
"What's there to tell? I've thought about it a bit, and I'm still not sure what she was even doing up on the roof, but the Kid definitely knew her. He was shouting at her at one point, and he used her name - called her "Aoko" - and without any honorific. He also seemed quite concerned with keeping her safe."
"That is his way. Kaitou Kid is obsessed with keeping everyone around him safe. The girl's name was Aoko you said? Was this her?" Boss placed a photo, obviously a blow-up of a surveillance shot, on the table. In the center of the picture was the same girl he had seen on the roof the night before, only she seemed to be holding a sign of some kind.
"Yes, that's her." he affirmed
"I thought as much. That is Nakamori Aoko, the only daughter of Nakamori Ginzo, the inspector in charge of Kid's cases."
"The daughter of his adversary then. .. He did seem unusually concerned over her."
"She may be useful then. Did they seem...close?"
"They did. For one thing, he knew just what speed she could run and ran at a speed to place himself as a shield, and for another, their gesticulations when they were arguing brought them quite close to each other, but each moved with familiarity and expectation of the other's movements."
"You're telling me they appeared to know each other well, then."
"Yes."
"This is most interesting. Your keen observation skills are, as always, appreciated. And for future reference, the Kid is off-limits for assassination, his skills are far too valuable. We made that mistake once before, but not this time. You may go now." Boss released him.
Once he was out of the office, Hirano's operative heaved a great sigh of relief. Yesterday's little debacle hadn't turned out as badly as he had thought. That last little tidbit of information, though, was both intriguing and unexpected... and it made him realize just how close he had come to being in really, really deep trouble.
Sorry for the cliffie-like ending. Rest assured, nothing is going to happen right away in the next chapter, this is only kinda setting the stage. Hope you all liked this chappy, and I really hope you didn't find all the mushy stuff between Kaito and Aoko to be too much.
Hey! Can anybody out there tell me what kind of a spell Aoko was casting at the end of her ritual? Or why she was using three circles? Extra brownie points to you if you can!
Oh yeah, and sorry for all the exposition -_-;; it was kinda necessary though.
Amaya the BIRTHDAY kitsune!
Yeah, it's my b-day today, all day!
