(Dual POV chapter: Kaito's side)

Kid usually wasn't a superstitious person, but tonight felt like an exception. The weather forecast had shown him that there would be a clear sky. Halfway into the night however, dark grey clouds flowed in and obscured the skies. This meant the moon that normally watched over him and basked the outside with a soft glow during his heists was nowhere in sight.

After rappelling down the side of a building with a rope attached to an inconspicuous harness, Kid positioned himself into a more elegant stance. As he left himself suspended in the air, he removed the dark cloak that concealed him.

Hearing the loud fluttering sound, Inspector Nakamori immediately whipped around. Perpendicular to the balcony the man stood on, Kid was seemingly levitating in the air. "Found you, you damned son of a-"

"Oh my, is this how you speak around young maidens?" Kid teased, tilting his head to look at Aoko who stood amongst the Task Force members behind the inspector. She wore a scowl on her face, staring intensely at the thief, which was on par for the course. Something was off however, since she was strangely quiet.

Nakamori didn't let the goading get under his skin. "Shut up, Kid! She's heard plenty worse!" He swiveled around to throw in quick orders. "I need two squadrons up on the roof to get whatever this bastard's hanging off of!"

"Yes, sir!" Voices were let out in unison as a handful of officers rushed towards the nearest staircase.

But Kid wasn't going to stay and let it happen. With a gloved hand, he pulled out a palm-sized moonstone brooch from the inside of his white coat. He waved around the milky pale gemstone with a pleased grin on his lips while his other hand rested inside a pocket of his slacks. "As always, it has been a pleasure. The Angel of White is in my possession now. I bid you goodnight, my dear inspector."

Popping a smoke bomb capsule, Kid instantly vanished by donning the black cloak again with his prize safely stashed away. At the same time, he pressed a small switch he had in his pockets. This activated the winch that he was dangling off of. It was located at the fifteenth floor so the ride up was going to take a bit since he started about midway. A small smile formed when he spotted Aoko pressed against the railing, trying to spot where he could have gone. Too bad people rarely looked up.

Hakuba was still recovering from the raid on the Black Organization that plagued Kudo's life. With no detectives around, the heist for the Angel of White moonstone was easy as pie. Luckily, Kid was not injured from it apart from a bit of smoke inhalation. Hattori was left with major bruising when a bullet was deflected by the radio transmitter in his coat. Miraculously, the casualty was light all thanks to the subtle start of the raid that also gave the police the element of surprise on their side.

The cloaked thief's musings were interrupted when he saw movement above him. There was still a few stories worth of height to gain until he would land on the rooftop. Could it be that Nakamori's men had already reached there? He dismissed the idea when he imagined a group of officers weighed down by their equipment running up seven flights of stairs in under ten seconds.

Kid's instincts screamed danger at him when his vision caught sight of an object hurtling straight at him.

It flew right beside his right eye, knocking the monocle off of his face and tearing through the cloak that covered his head. Ignoring that a piece of his costume had fallen, Kid readied himself for another attack. He was fully aware that hanging midair from a line left him exposed with limited range of movement and no cover.

A few moments later, another projectile flew at him. This time it was aimed at the cable above him. Kaito looked up as he felt the tension holding him snap and gravity take hold.

The movement of an object drew Aoko's attention away from her father, who was preparing to send helicopters. It fell on the railing next to her and bounced off of it to land on the ground beside her feet. She looked down.

It was the monocle of Kaitou Kid.

Running back towards the edge of the balcony, she leaned forward against the railings. Aoko lifted her head to see where it had come from. Her breath hitched when she saw the vague silhouette of Kid suddenly fall.

Kid's heart rate spiked when he realized what happened. In a few seconds, he could very easily become a red stain on the pavement below. He heard a terrified shriek from Aoko as he lost the line connecting him to the winch mechanism.

His awkward position and height midair meant that the hang glider wouldn't save him from a straight fall like this. He has only one option left. With a trained reaction time, he pulled his card gun out and switched it to the grappling hook setting and fired.

The anchor card landed and the thief felt his downwards momentum being transformed into a swinging motion. Gritting his teeth and lifting a free hand, he braced for impact.

The brick wall of the museum slammed against his sides. The hit left him stunned and he crumpled to the ground of a balcony below, a stream of white and black cloth following him.

Still feeling the effects of the adrenaline, Kid got up shakenly. A quick look around made him aware that he had fallen to the floor below where Aoko and the inspector were. With a click, the card that was stuck disconnected off of the card gun along with the cord.

He could faintly hear Aoko reporting to her father that Kid had plummeted unexpectedly. The thief took a few deep breaths to prepare himself to make his escape. He climbed on the balcony railing and pulled off the concealing cloak to free his cape. Deploying his glider, he then leapt off and sailed into the dark trees that lined the surroundings of a parking lot.

Once under the cover of darkness, Kid finally felt a hint of relief. He pressed around himself to assess the damage. The pain was not very intense for now but he knew from experience that the bruising will bite back hard in the morning. A dejected sigh left his mouth as he removed his white costume.

A buzzing from his phone made his heart skip a beat. He pulled it up.

Come to the parking lot. We need to talk.

It was a text message from Aoko. A feeling of dread filled his mind. It was something he had wanted to avoid bringing up with her. Kaito wanted so badly to return a message claiming he didn't know what she meant or was busy. He felt like a coward, forever trying to run from the inevitable confrontation about Kid. Chewing the inside of his cheeks, the teen hesitated on pressing the send button. He erased and retyped the same message with different variations several times. What should he say?

From the darkness where he stood, he saw a figure approach the parking lot. It was Aoko. He watched her make her way to one of the lamp poles and lean on it. She seemed to have something clasped inside her hands. Seeing her stand there, Kaito had a feeling she would wait patiently for him to come for a very long time. If he didn't show up, she might never forgive him.

Steeling himself, he silently stepped out from hiding. "Hey, Aoko."

She didn't respond, keeping the same neutral face while she stared at him. Kaito was a bit taken aback from the lack of immediate yelling he had expected.

The longer the silent treatment lasted, the more Kaito felt his heart race nervously. Breaking the silence, he continued. "It's getting late. Let's go home together."

Her typically agreeable attitude was gone without a trace. Aoko's cold gaze narrowed. It was like her eyes were pinning him on the spot.

Aoko heaved the most tired sigh he had ever heard her let out. "Was it fun? The heist, I mean."

Ah. So she knew after all. But it also felt like a question she and Hakuba had asked before. In vain hope, Kaito used his usual response. Acting as relaxed as he possibly can, he spoke with an airy laugh. "Yeah, Kid was amazing tonight as always. I'm glad I caught sight of him."

"Stop playing stupid with me. Here. You forgot something." She revealed the thing she was holding onto. The monocle that was shot off of his face by an unknown attacker.

The best he could do from shaking was try to maintain the same lighthearted tone he'd always use around her. "Oh, it's for me?" The monocle felt so foreign under his touch as he accepted it from her hand.

There was a hint of spite in her words and he didn't fault her for it. She had the right to be angry. Kaito had envisioned the scenario where he had to tell the truth to her. He had planned out the script, yet he couldn't remember a single word now.

Aoko spoke slowly, finding the right words to use to convey what she felt. "I...nearly had a heart attack watching you fall."

Kaito could clearly recall the scream he heard when the cord broke. The terror in it was something he never wished to hear again.

His brain scrambled to find something to reassure her. "It wasn't my fault. There was…" He should probably not worry her any more by saying someone had attacked him. "The cord just snapped, okay? Look, I'm alive right now aren't I?"

Her breathing was beginning to speed up as she became increasingly upset. "Why are you even doing this? Is this some s-sort of sick thrill you enjoy in your free time?"

Explaining his reason behind acting as Kaitou Kid was likely the part where Kaito feared the most. From his experience assisting Kudo, even a hint of knowing about a criminal organization's existence was enough to put her in danger. He chose the best and safest answer, while doing what he did best.

Lie.

"Yea."

She shook her head and chuckled without any real humor. "No. I refuse to accept that. You're lying again. You're not really like that, are you?"

It tore him up on the inside seeing her denying his answer. The amount of faith she had in him felt so undeserved, especially after all the lies and excuses he had said to her. A lump formed in his throat from the guilt.

But he can't tell her anything. He was going to take no chances. "Believe what you want, Aoko. It's better this way."

"In that case, then I suggest that you get a new hobby. You need to stop this." Her voice was begging him.

"I can't."

It was too late. If he stopped, Snake's group might get suspicious and begin investigating. They were one step away from finding out who was behind Kid's hat and monocle.

Unsurprisingly, Aoko didn't take his answer too kindly. Her glare hardened. "Then tell me why."

"Aoko, just...trust me, okay?" Kaito felt disgusted at himself for saying that. After he betrayed her trust, he had the gall to ask her to believe his words. It was laughable, really.

One angry step forward from her made him jump slightly back. With stormy eyes and a face equally as thunderous, Aoko exploded into a loud rant. "Are you even hearing yourself?! I trusted you, and yet you lie to me. I always ate up all your excuses. This has happened over and over again, and I'm done! You almost got yourself killed! How am I supposed to trust anything you say at all now?!"

Each point she made, she jabbed his chest with a finger. Although the force behind it wasn't strong, Kaito felt pain shoot underneath his skin and straight into his heart. It hurt but he took it silently anyway.

He deserved it.

After she got done yelling, Aoko looked like she had just finished running a marathon. Her breathing through gritted teeth was rapid and harsh. Kaito felt his own breathing beginning to lose control and speed up. If there was something to stop her from being so upset, he'd use it.

He was frankly exhausted after the heist. Maybe with some rest, he would be able to think more clearly. For now, perhaps it was best to just delay telling her the truth. "I-"

A swift motion from Aoko cut him off, followed by the pain caused by her hand slapping him.

The world had gone quiet around him. Not even the buzzing of cicadas and the sound of traffic could pierce through the thick silence that settled on his ears. All he could focus on was the sting on his cheek.

"I thought I knew who you were...but I guess I was wrong. Don't talk to me, Kid."

Kid.

Kaito saw her glare at him one final time before leaving with a spin on her heel. Even if he wanted to keep Aoko from leaving with such a heavy scowl on her face, his body wouldn't budge. The last part of her words echoed in his mind.

Through blurred vision, he saw Aoko's figure get farther away and shrink into the distance. When she was long gone, Kaito stood by his lonesome in the empty parking lot. Her voice replayed in his ears over and over again. He felt the aching across his body begin to throb during the silent moment by himself.

…

…

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Hearing the distinct sound of hands applauding in the darkness, Kaito swirled around to face whoever it was. His vision was cleared away from the adrenaline that shot through his body. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

A female voice responded, clearly amused by what she had witnessed. "To think that the legendary Kaitou Kid was nothing but a teenager who can't even talk to a girl properly, what a disappointment."

Dread seeped into Kaito's being. This was the worst thing that could happen. There he stood without any masks and clearly upset by his interaction with Aoko. It was going to be difficult to dismiss his real appearance as a disguise.

Switching to his 'professional' mode, he tried his best to form the thief's signature confident smirk. "And who might you be, Miss?"

The woman remained hidden as she spoke. "Unlike you, I am more in touch with my job than you are. People call me Romulea."

A flower. Is it a codename? Kaito remembered his encounter with a codenamed female agent called Rose. The way she gave her name so easily… It sent goosebumps across his skin. This didn't bode well.

"Romulea, huh? What do you want with me? Are you with Snake?"

"Oh my, so many questions! And here's my answer, Kid."

Something emerged from the shadows, but it was not a person. The object that poked out from the edge of the darkness looked like the tip of a weapon.

From it, a projectile shot out and narrowly missed Kaito's head. It burrowed into the streetlamp behind him. With a side glance he saw that it was a bolt from a crossbow. He made connections in his mind. "You...You're the one that shot at me during the heist."

A giggle was let out as she retreated the weapon back into hiding. "Bzzt! Wrong. Not much of a detective, are you? I'm not even going to lie and say that I teleported from the rooftop like you would do." Her voice was steeped in sickly confidence. "The one that shot at you would be my partner in crime, Termite."

Kaito was struggling to keep the fear in his heart from reaching his face. If she was willing to give out their names, then it meant that they were sure they had the advantage. As much as he hated it, that fact was true. His cover was blown.

He swallowed before speaking. "Nice to know that I have garden plants and forest critters chasing my coattail. What are you going to do now?"

"For such terrible honesty, I'll tell you. Expect a visit from us, Kuroba Kaito. You've made yourself quite a nuisance for us. We're going to be thorough and find any connection you've made in your life. Whether they die or not, it will be all up to you."

If there was any time he wished that he would pass out and wake up in his bed, it was now.