Afterlife
Disclaimer: Who ever says I can own Detective Conan please say 'I'? Silence Come on! Silence Please? More silence Darn it! And I so wanted to own it. (I don't own "The Reason", because it's by Hoobastank.)
Chapter 8 - Repercussions
Kazuha stared out of the window, watching the birds that flew by. Her best friend, Hattori Heiji, lay unconscious on the bed next to her. She'd been waiting with him ever since he'd come into the hospital a few minutes ago. Because his bullet wound was not life threatening, the doctors were waiting until he awoke before taking it out.
0m 9s…0m 8s…0m 7s…
I'm sorry, Ran! Shinichi silently prayed as he picked a wire and put it between the blades of the scissors he was using.
"KUDO!"
Kazuha whipped around, accidentally slapping Heiji across the face, who had sat up. He fell back on to the bed, bringing his left hand to his face. His right arm and shoulder hurt too much to move.
"Ouch! What'd you do that for?" Heiji asked, his voice muffled by his hand.
"Oh, Heiji! I'm sorry. I so sorry," Kazuha cried out as she hugged Heiji. "I was so worried about you and then you startled me." She would've said more, but her tears were choking any words that might have made it out of her throat.
Heiji lowered his hand and wrapped them around Kazuha's trembling form. As he held her, his mind pondered the reason why he woke up the way he did. All he could remember was a feeling of dread about something happening to Shinichi.
0m 4s…0m 3s…0m 2s…
He took a deep breath, reading himself for whatever happened next.
SNIP!
I'm sorry Ran!
The scissors cut the wire…
Suddenly, the feeling came back, making Heiji wince once again. This time, though, it was not as bad as the first one he experienced only moments ago. It confused him. Why was he so uneasy? Hadn't Shinichi and Kaito already taken care of Vermouth and Gin? Gin…Heiji remembered what happened. Gin…holding a gun to his chest. Gin smirking. Him trying to jump out of the way as Gin pulled the trigger. The world spinning as darkness crept in on his senses and finally blacking out. And then…what'd happened after that?
Heiji looked down once again at Kazuha and noticed she'd calmed down, but was still hugging him. He also noticed her head was a little too close to his wound for comfort.
"Kazuha," Heiji asked tentatively, "I don't want to sound rude, but could you please move your head? It's a little too close to my wound."
He watched as she lifted her head at looked at him. He could see the unshed tears in her eyes as she smiled at him.
"Sorry 'bout that," Kazuha mumbled as she relayed her head on his other shoulder, still refusing to let go.
"It's okay," Heiji told her. "Where are the others?"
"Well, Koizumi-chan, Miyano-chan, Ran-chan and Nakamori-chan are here at the hospital. They came along when the ambulance took you away. Kudo-kun and Kuroba-kun both went back into the warehouse because of a bomb."
"A BOMB?" Heiji shouted, startling Kazuha. "Why'd they do something as stupid as that?"
"Because Hakuba-kun was already searching for it," Kazuha told him quietly. "He was trying to find the bomb while shooing everyone else out of the warehouse. I haven't seen Koizumi-chan act like she did when he left. It was like a part of her was missing."
Heiji knew a little bit about Koizumi Akako from dealing with Kuroba Kaito. When he first heard her called a witch, he had thought it to be a joke. Now, he realized it was very close to the truth. Akako did act like a modern day witch.
Kazuha's eyes teared up again, thinking about how her friend acted. "She just kept repeating the same thing over and over again: 'Why?' I think Hakuba's act of possibly sacrificing himself for her well-being caught her off guard."
Heiji could second that. From what Kaito and Shinichi had told him, the only way she knew to get guys to like her was to put them under a spell. She'd done that to her high school class, but Kaito and Hakuba seemed immune to the spell. So, Hakuba's action would be something new to her…something that would definitely startle her.
Thinking back over the past few days, Heiji came to a startling discovery. Even though he was not under her spell, Hakuba Saguru still had looked after her. When the girls had been attacked and Ran kidnapped, the first thing Hakuba did was check on Akako. Now, putting two and two together (and ending up somewhere near 42), Heiji realized Hakuba had to have feelings for Akako, just like he had for Kazuha, not that he'd tell her that. Nope, no way. Never…
"Heiji…"
Heiji looked down into Kazuha's eyes, seeing the tear stained cheeks. To him, she'd never looked more beautiful, though. The way her eyes were lighting up, it made him feel like a king. Her smile could make him believe could take the whole BO on and bring them all to justice.
"Heiji…I'm not…good with…this kind of…thing…but," Kazuha stammered, her breath catching in her throat. NO, DAMN IT! I need to tell him. I waited 'til it was almost too late. I can't take the chance of it happening again. Not before he knows how I feel…Oh, man! Why didn't they mention how difficult it was in all those romance mangas? Kazuha thought as she felt a blush forming.
"Heiji…" Kazuha was crying now. It wasn't tears of anger or hurt. Instead, she was frustrated. Frustrated with herself, with her feelings, with her fears, with the Organization that almost took away her Heiji… Wait a minute? Since when was he my Heiji? I know I like him, but when did I get so possessive? A small voice answered her. Since you almost lost him. Since he almost left you alone for good. Since I started acknowledging my own feelings. Kazuha agreed.
"Kazuha?" Heiji asked bewildered. What could cause the strong spirited girl he knew and loved to be reduced into the broken down, crying, quivering girl in his embrace? "What's wrong?"
Heiji's question just seemed to make it worse for Kazuha as she broke into sobs, clutching to Heiji as tight as she could. "Heiji…almost…lost…you" Kazuha managed to say between sobs. She wasn't for sure what exactly she was saying, instead relying on her heart to provide her mouth with the correct words. "Don't…ever…want to…come…that close…again…" Kazuha broke off as her tears overcame her speech, making it impossible for her to continue.
Luckily, she had laid enough clues out for the detective to piece together. After spending a few minutes listening to Kazuha's sobs while holding her, and going over all she had said, Heiji arrived at what he thought to be the correct answer: Kazuha was worried about him.
For some reason, this brought a small comfort to the detective. He didn't exactly know why he liked the idea of Kazuha worrying about him, but he didn't dispute that it made him feel better. And right now, he wasn't going to turn away anything that made him slowly forget about his injury, which, even with the pain medicine he was sure the doctors had given him, was still bothering him.
"Kazuha," Heiji looked down at the brown-haired girl as her cries trailed off once again. "…thank you for your concern…" He wasn't for sure what to say, but in his situation, that sounded like the best option.
Kazuha smiled back at the young boy, her eyes still filled with unshed tears. "You're welcome, aho." Both of them had a good laugh her remark. For some reason she could not explain, possible because of how close she'd come to loosing him, Kazuha felt the need to increase the level of their relationship. Not understanding where she got the courage to do so, she moved her body up a little bit and lightly kissed Heiji on the lips.
When she moved back down, she wished she could've had a camera. The look on Heiji's face was priceless. The mix between shock, surprise, happiness, and something that could only be described as love and lust made his face seem to glow in the aftermath. She watched in amazement as he used his good arm to bring her head close again, with her help, while bringing his down the best he could, for another kiss. This one, though, was not the light, butterfly type. Instead, it was one of the searing, heart-stopping, most-wonderful-thing-possible kisses she'd read about in her manga. Of course, her mind wasn't on that as she responded to Heiji's kiss.
Soon, much to Heiji's surprise, Kazuha deepened the kiss, bringing a whole new lot of emotions to the forefront. As the kiss continued, he could almost taste her love/lust and her need for the kiss to continue. He wasn't going to object as the girl of his dreams held on to him, still lip-locked with him.
"Well, I can see Heiji-kun is awake."
Both teenagers sprang apart, Kazuha falling off the bed and Heiji banging his head against the rail. As the momentary dizziness subsided, Heiji turned toward the door to see who'd interrupted them. Standing there with a smile on her face was none other than Mouri Ran.
"You know, if you want to continue exploring Heiji-kun's mouth, I can leave, Kazuha-chan." Ran giggled at the matching red faces as Kazuha picked herself up off of the floor.
Ah, man. Why did she have to pick at that moment to let herself be known? If she could've been a few minutes later…Heiji's thought trailed off as he imagined what might have happened if they had continued the kiss.
"Wha…what's up, Ran-chan?" Kazuha asked as she tried to change to a topic that didn't leave her face hot enough to fry eggs.
"Oh, not much," Ran said, still giggling at the two Osakan's expressions. "Just wanted to check up on Heiji-kun. I can see you have it all under control, Kazuha-chan, so I'll leave you two alone." Ran turned around and walked out of the room. The two stunned teenagers could hear her laughter as she moved down the hall and back to the waiting room.
"What just happened?" Heiji asked timidly.
"I'm not completely sure myself," Kazuha replied, her eyes wide open.
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"How's Hattori-san?" Aoko asked as soon as Ran appeared in her view.
"Oh, I don't think that he's going to have any problem," she said with a smile.
"Why do you say that?" Akako asked.
"For one, he was totally making out with Kazuha-chan."
Everyone of the girls' jaw dropped. "No way…" Shiho managed to croak out after a few seconds.
"Yep," Ran stated happily and somewhat maniacally. "I even walked in on them."
"Took them long enough," Akako stated and turned her head to look away. She recovered quickly from her shock.
"And what about you and Hakuba-san?" Ran asked not quite innocently.
Akako's head snapped around. "W…what?" she stuttered.
"Oh, you know. Your relationship with Hakuba-san. You're a little too close for just friends," Ran spoke, continuing her tirade of gossip. It was a nice source of amusement that kept her mind off of what possible was happening to Shinichi.
"I...I don't know what your talking about," Akako managed to stammer out, her voice betraying the calm her face was trying to portray.
"Sure..."
"And you're one to talk. What about you and Kudo-san?"
"What about us? He admitted that he loves me and I love him."
Everyone continued to stare in shock at the young woman before them. Since when did she change from being a small girl who was afraid of showing her feelings to the fiery and determined woman before them.
"Well, at least I can't be picked on," Aoko stated somewhat defiantly.
All three of the other girls looked at her like she was crazy. "You and Kaito?" Akako asked.
"Just brother and sister-like relationship," Aoko shot back, trying to act like it was nothing. She didn't fool the others.
"Uh huh…and the hurt you felt when you found out that Kaito was Kaitou Kid…"
"…"
"I thought so. You like him, even though you don't want to admit it."
"Since when did this become a bash on Aoko session?"
"Since you thought you could get away without being brought into the slander," Ran inputted.
Aoko just stuck her nose in the air, much to the amusement of her friends. Truth be told, though, they had hit the nail on the head. For the past few months, she knew that her relationship with Kaito had been changing, but it wasn't until she'd learned his secret that she'd realized how much she did care for the lost phantom thief. Of course, it'd take him two crowbars, a stick of dynamite, and several tons of TNT to get it out of her.
What Shinichi is doing right now? Ran wondered as she tuned out her friends' laughter at Aoko's reactions.
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Kuroba Kaito waited…and waited…and waited some more. But, for as long as he waited, the earth shattering Kaboom he was expecting never sounded. Okay, this is weird. It's been over 4 minutes and 33 seconds since Kudo and I split up and the bomb still hasn't gone off. I'm sure we found out about the bomb a few minutes after the five minutes countdown started. Did Kudo manage to disarm the bomb in time? As he continued to ponder the situation, he noticed someone had come out of the building.
Quickly rushing down to meet him, Kaito noticed the person was too short to be Shinichi. It was Hakuba Saguru. As Kaito ran up to meet him, Hakuba raised his head. The dark and serious expression, more than usual, made Kaito's heart almost stop.
"Hakuba…Kudo-kun?" Kaito was almost too afraid to ask, to find out what happened to the missing detective.
"I don't know." Hakuba responded, his voice cold and tired, almost as if he witnessed a friend dying. "He's still in there, trying to defuse the bomb."
"Why did you leave him!" Kaito half shouted at the British boy. He was angry with Hakuba for leaving Shinichi, angry at Shinichi for possibly dying once again, so soon after the last time. But, most of all, he was angry at himself for not being able to do anything to help his friend.
"I had no choice!" Hakuba shouted back, his nerves frayed. He hadn't wanted to leave, especially if he had to tell Ran the bad news: that Shinichi didn't make it again. He was sure that if Shinichi was once again dead, it would send her over the edge. He wasn't for sure, but she would most likely follow him into the next world, leaving more pain and hurt with everyone else.
Alright, calm down boy, Kaito thought to himself. It's been long enough that if the bomb would've gone of, it'd already done so. Now what do we do?
"Hakuba, when you left Kudo, how much time was left?" Kaito asked.
"About 30 seconds. Why?"
"And how long ago was that?"
"1 minute, 12 seconds. Wh…wait a minute. If Kudo-san didn't defuse the bomb, it'd already gone off. So, that means…"
"That means Kudo-kun is still alive, somewhere in there," Kaito finished for him.
"Let's go. He's going to need our help if he runs into any of the Black Ops," Hakuba shouted over his shoulder as he turned around and ran back into the building, Kaito right on his tail.
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As he ran down the corridor, chasing an elusive Vermouth, Kudo Shinichi thought back to what'd happened immediately following his defusing of the bomb…or what he thought was the bomb…
0m 4s…0m 3s…0m 2s…
He took a deep breath, reading himself for whatever happened next.
SNIP!
I'm sorry, Ran!
The scissors cut the wire…and nothing happened. Shinichi sighed in relief as he put the scissors down on the ground and took a few minutes to calm himself down after another near death experience.
"So, you managed to stop my bomb, tantei-san," a voice sounded from the doorway. Shinichi immediately turned his head to see who it was, the scissors in his hand, ready to throw. It was none other than the one he was hunting: Vermouth. "Or, should I say, my decoy bomb?" she continued.
"Decoy bomb?" Shinichi shouted, not caring how it sounded.
"Yes, my decoy bomb. Did you think I'd actually take the chance of destroying myself, or you for that matter? It'd be no fun anymore if you died."
"What is your game, Vermouth?" Shinichi was getting angry. He hated being toyed with.
"Game? There is no game anymore, tantei-san. The game ended when you and your friends defeated most of my men. Now, you will join the other side, just like you should've in the first place." As she was speaking, she pulled a gun out from behind her and pointed it at the detective.
"Don't you think I've had enough guns pointed at me yet?" Shinichi stated, hoping to distract the operative in hopes of escaping.
"Not yet, for you're not dead. But, that will soon change. Abayo, tantei-san."
As she finished speaking, Shinichi threw the scissors to her right and dove in the other direction. He heard the bullets bouncing off just above where his head used to be. Thinking quickly, Shinichi picked up the dead bomb and readied it for chucking. He peaked around the corner to look for the agent and saw she was walking towards him. She was going slowly, checking every place. Shinichi's guess was because it was dark, she couldn't see exactly where he was, for her shots had taken out the circuit breakers which where once above his head.
As she turn a little bit to check behind a box a little in front of where he was hiding, Shinichi saw his opportunity: the hand holding the gun was facing him. Hoping his aim was not off, he chucked the bomb at her hand, knocking the gun out of her hand and way. Immediately, he took off at a full out sprint directly for her. He watched as she turned back and her eyes grew wide. She looked around, visibly panicking, for her gun. She saw it and started for it, but by that time, Shinichi had caught up and passed her, picking up the gun as he went by. He skidded to a halt and turned back to look at her, but she'd already turned around and was running away. He made sure the safety was on and shoved the gun into his pants pocket, taking off after the fleeing agent.
Shinichi could still see Vermouth ahead of him, heading out what he thought to be the back entrence, but he wasn't for sure. All he knew, was if she got out the door, he'd most likely not catch her today. Shinichi didn't want that. After the time she'd plagued his memories and nightmares since he'd become Conan, there was no way he was going to let this chance pass him by. As he pulled out the gun, something unexpected happened: Vermouth tripped and fell.
Taking his sudden fortune for all it was worth, Shinichi ran up to her and pointed the gun at her head, standing stiffly in front of his enemy. He spoke to her very clearly, "Don't move if you want to live." After all she'd done to ruin his life, he didn't particularily care if she forced him to fire. In fact, a part of him was pushing him to pull the trigger anyway, but he successfully pushed that part of him down, keeping in control.
Taking a deep breath, he looked her over. It was then he noticed what'd caused her to trip. Wrapped around her ankles several times was string. What made it interesting was that attached to each end was a small, plastic, white dove. The string itself was pink. This could only mean one thing: Kaito was here.
"Kaitou Kid, you can make yourself known now," Shinichi spoke, hoping he was close. Sure enough, Kaito stepped out of the shadows nearby. What he didn't expect was to see Hakuba follow him out of their 'hiding' spot.
"You can call him by his name: Kuroba Kaito. We already knew that," Vermouth grumpily told the teenagers.
Shinichi raised an eyebrow at her comment. "Fine. Kaito, want to help out?"
"It'd be my pleasure," came the reply. Out of seemingly nowhere, Kaito pulled out a rag and placed it over Vermouth's nose and mouth. Soon, her body relaxed and she seemed to drift off to more pleasant places, most likely filled with playing games with her favorite detective and his angel.
"What'd you do?" Hakuba asked, a little concerned. True, Vermouth was a criminal, but she also was helpless person at that moment. He didn't like it when people took advantage of others.
"Now, Hakuba, you should know by now, I don't harm people unnecessarily. All that was was a rag soaked in a sleeping gas. She should be out for another couple of hours. Enough time for us to lock them up."
Shinichi sighed and lowered the gun. Inside, he was glad he didn't have to kill her. In all the years he'd been a detective, he'd never taken a life. True, sometime the criminal would take is own life or they couldn't find the criminal, but he was proud of the fact he'd never stooped to their level. He hoped he'd never have to, but he'd do it if it meant protecting that which he treasured and held dear.
"Come on, let's get her to the authorities. Then, we can come back for the others," Shinichi stated as he put the gun back in his pocket. The other boys nodded and proceeded to help.
Epilogue
A month since the day Heiji was shot, the Black Organization was gone from Japan. Luckily, the police had been able to capture all the agents who where in the building, including Gin, Vodka, and Vermouth. Using the information they gained from them, the combined efforts of the police, Kaitou Kid, Hakuba and Shinichi were able to finally bring the large syndicate down for good. Unfortunately, this time there was sadness mixed in with the joy, for the police force lost a few good members in the struggle.
Sato had tried to join the bust, but Takagi and Megure had convinced her to stay behind. She didn't forgive them for quite a while because Takagi had been seriously injured and was still in the hospital, though no longer in critical condition. He was on his way to a full recovery, for which Sato was grateful for. When he'd first woken up, she'd confessed her feeling and Takagi had reciprocated. They were now the most talked about couple in the police force, behind Hakuba and Akako, Heiji and Kazuha, and Ran and Shinichi.
When she'd first seen him after the fight with Vermouth had ended, Akako had thrown her arms around Hakuba's neck, hugging him tightly. Once she'd realized what she was doing, the damage was already done, so she continued to hold onto him. Hakuba had put his arms around her waist and so after that day, he was teased constantly by Kaito until he officially asked Akako to be his girlfriend.
Shinichi and Ran met up again and continued on with their life, with Shinichi proposing to her the day after the final raid on the BO. She, of course, accepted immediately, and they had set the date for 5 months in the future, making it a spring wedding and giving Takagi time to recover enough to come. Shinichi had, fortunately, survived the second battle without much injury, much to Ran's relief. He was afraid that if he had been hurt like Takagi, Ran might have gone over the edge during the week when they weren't for sure if Takagi was going to make it or not.
Heiji had had his surgery, but wasn't recovered, much to his annoyance, enough to join the second battle. Unknown to him, though, was that even if he'd been well enough to go, Kazuha would've fought tooth and nail to keep him away. After she'd come so close to losing him, she'd started being more open with her feeling. Heiji, also, was being more open, so when he was able to walk around again, he'd asked her to be his girlfriend. They'd been growing closer every passing day and there was a bet running around in the force of when he'd propose. The most popular was Christmas eve, but for a reason no one could place, Shinichi had bet on sometime within a month from when the bet started a week and a half ago. Of course, unknown to everyone else, Heiji had been talking about it with Shinichi, so he had inside information.
Shiho had returned to being Haibara Ai, for two reasons: One, because there remained nothing of her former life. Her second reason was to help Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko with dealing with Conan's 'death' the previous month. She was partially afraid that 'Ai's disappearance might forever damage their lives when it was so close to another one of their friends death. So, instead, she stayed close to them, partially glad to have a chance to grow up once again. The first time around, she'd had almost no childhood and both the professor and Shinichi agreed this was good for her.
Kaito, for his part, didn't follow the other guys' path. When he came back, there seemed to be more of a distance between him and Aoko, and it seemed to grow everyday. Everyone was afraid the two wouldn't get together, but the teenage detectives weren't completely worried. They figured the two of them needed to discuss about Kaito being Kid, but neither seemed to want to approach that topic. Then, the last day of school before the break, Kaito announced he was leaving the next day for awhile. Sensing the possibility of never seeing him again, Aoko had sought him out the day before his departure to talk with him. She wanted to let him know she wanted him to stay…
"Kaito?"
The one voice he wanted to hear, and yet at the same time, didn't. Kaito squeezed his eyes shut, his mind going over multiple possibilities. "Aoko? What're you doing here? I thought you'd be with your dad."
I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know
I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you
"I can't let you go without talking with you. We both have things we need to discuss and running away won't help," Aoko replied, somewhat boldly. She knew if she wanted any chance for a better future with Kaito, she needed to get right to the point.
"What is there to discuss? I hurt you because of being Kid, even though now there is no reason for me to continue doing so. I'm leaving so you can continue on with your life. I don't know where I'm going or when, or even if, I'm coming back. It doesn't matter, though. I hope you have a better life without me there to disrupt it." It was killing him on the inside to tell her these things, things he'd been dwelling on since she'd found out about is alternate lifestyle. Even though he didn't want to do it, he figured going away was the best decision, even if it hurt a great deal.
I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That's why I need you to hear
I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you
"Kaito? How is your leaving going to help me move on? Don't you realize you're the main reason I turned out how I did?"
"Yes, I'm the main reason you don't have a great life. I took away your dad from you when you needed him the most. My dad took your dad away as well. You were always complaining about how Kid never let you spend enough time with your father and how you hated Kid and wanted him locked up in jail. Why is it any different now you know Kid's identity? Just because I was your friend, does that change what I did? Is that any excuse for what I did? Tell me, Aoko. Is there any forgiveness possible for damaging your childhood like mine was?"
Aoko watched has he turned around to face her. Even though he had his poker face on, she could still see the hurt in his eyes. The hurt he felt because of his actions. True, when she'd first found out about him, she was very angry, but now she'd had time to think. Also, pain she'd started to feel as her and Kaito had drifted apart since the first battle was something she never wanted to feel again. She realized she didn't want him to disappear. She wanted to be with him for a long time, possibly forever; she wasn't for sure, but she did know, letting him leave would be the biggest mistake she could make.
I'm not a perfect person
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know
I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you
"Kaito," Aoko started, "we've both made mistakes in our past. I didn't know then the reason behind your heists. I didn't know it was so personal. I didn't know the group that was after you. I didn't know the danger you, and I for a while, was in. When you take all those into consideration, our actions were justified. True, you sometimes seemed to be a pain in the rear, but you were honorable with your heists."
"Honorable? What's so honorable about stealing?"
"You'd return what you'd steal. You tried to make sure no one was hurt. If the object couldn't be obtained without human damage, you didn't go for it. You made it a fair game. If that isn't honorable, then I don't know what is."
"How can you even accept me after all I've done?" A tone of desperation was evident in Kaito's voice. He wasn't for sure if he wanted the answer, but needed it just the same.
"Because you're my friend." Aoko's tone of voice left no room for arguments, not that Kaito would try.
"Just a friend? Is that all I've been to you? Just a friend?" Kaito needed this answer too, and he felt if he got the wrong one, he might still leave. Either that, or just fold in on himself. The past month had been getting to him and it was finally reaching his limit.
I've found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you
"No, not just a friend," Aoko spoke softly. "…maybe…maybe more, if you want to…"
Even though he wanted that answer, it still stunned him. "More? You want to be more? With me?"
Anger started to creep into Aoko's voice. "Yes! With you! I care for you, you baka!"
Kaito smiled. "Then, Nakamori Aoko, will you be my girlfriend?"
Aoko also smiled. "Alright, just as long you agree never to leave me," she told him was gave him a hug.
"Deal." With that, Kaito lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. After they broke apart a few minutes later, they smiled at each other and Kaito held out his hand. Aoko accepted it and they went down the stairs. Neither one complained as they went outside to meet a cheering crowd, with all the other three couples in the forefront.
"Did you know about this?" Kaito asked.
"Nope, did you?" she returned.
"Same here, and I really don't care either," he responded as they meet with their friends, Kaito's trip long forgotten.
The End