When Aoko Nakamori opened her eyes, she needed a moment for the images of what was above her to get clearer. Her aching body was now laying on the grass below pines' branches, thanks to which, despite the very high temperatures the late spring brought to Tokyo, the heat in the forest was not as unbearable as it was in the city. Although Aoko's discontent with having slept in a forest, the pain and exhaustion piercing her flesh made her want to lay there for a little bit more, just like she would on a Saturday after a busy week or a wild party. Yet, the more she was getting conscious, the more she was asking herself what is she doing there. There were images in her mind explaining what had happened – the explosion, people running, someone shooting, someone grabbing her. That person… Kaito Kid? Yes! Kid grabbed her, put her in his arms and flew off with her on his glider. His face, just like probably hers, judging by her dirty hands, was covered in dust from the explosion as well as sweat and blood coming from the bruises. He was cursing, saying something about needing to go faster, spurting desperate complaints about his glider, that must have been damaged. Once again, the phantom thief rescued her, but judging by his cough and unusual nervousness, the things were not going well. That assumption turned out to be true the moment they were above the forest and suddenly started falling down. Was it the glider's fault, Kid's tiredness or an accident – Aoko did not really care. What she cared about however, was whether Kaito Kid was still there. Attempting to ignore the pain, she used her bruised hands to sit up. On the ground, merely two meters away from her, was Kid, whose view for maybe the first time did not irritate her, but instead gave her relief, since he met her minimal conditions concerning the person she would want to have by her side in a critical situation like this - especially now when Aoko was finding out that her phone's battery died.
The magician thief was laying with his back facing Aoko, but his head was tilted enough in her direction for her to notice that his monocle, just like the hat, fell off. She looked around to see if the glider was anywhere to be found and it seemed that whatever had happened to it (did Kid let go of it for some reason?), it wasn't nearby. So, Aoko was in an unfamiliar forest with her now useless phone and the man she hated, who she did not know whether he was still alive. That thing, however, had to be discovered as soon as possible, and Aoko was the only one in charge until he was passed out. It was probably the familiarity of Kid's frame or hair, that was already a subject of her previous suspicions, that made her now hesitant to get closer to the body and to uncover the great mystery of Kaito Kid's identity. Still, Aoko knew she had to do this, so she took a deep breath and crawled (although her legs probably weren't broken in a literal way, she felt as if they broke in a way an electric device would) to him. Trying not to look at his face now, she checked his pulse and was glad (what a paradox) to feel it. So he was alive, but now she could not avoid his face anymore, as putting him in a recovery position would be much harder while not looking. The second Aoko saw the face she let out a small cry and covered her mouth with her palm, just to quickly take it away feeling that annoying white dust on her lips. Her fears turned out to have been reasonable. It was one of these times that a person does not thank their intelligence that came to the right conclusion, but actually blames it for not giving them at least two more minutes of naivety. Something broke inside her but, maybe because of her previous suspicions, it did not shock her as much as it probably should, and despite the disappointment, Aoko decided to stifle the growing rage and sadness. She did not know what exactly made her postpone her emotions, since the situation did not allow for a moment to slow down and calm the thoughts that were now either racing in her mind, or completely absent, restrained from coming. Now it was her duty to help him, whether he was a despicable Kaito Kid or her lying childhood friend – Kuroba Kaito. "I'll have time to yell at this bastard when he wakes up" – it was one of the many thoughts that were now creating barbaric mess in her head. Meanwhile, she loosened up his tie and started to put his body in a rescue position, just like she was taught in high school, although now Aoko doubted her actual skills. Suddenly, Kaito mumbled and opened his eyes, paralysing Aoko for a minute. He looked at her in a way any person in this situation would probably look at someone standing above them – without concealing he has no idea what was happening. Kaito proffered his hand to the girl, or actually, tried to make her proffer the hand for him to sit up. Just as Aoko should, she helped him, although reluctantly. Their eyes were locked for a moment, Aoko examining his face, being more and more certain of his identity and less and less hopeful that it might be a truly great resemblance or a great mask. The held back tears finally found their way to her eyes, strolling down her face, cleaning the dust that covered it. With streams standing out against her still white face, Aoko looked like a sad porcelain doll that was just about to break into pieces.
"Um, are you alright?"
The question made her sadness give way to anger.
"Am I alright? Are you insane?! I know we are battered, but get yourself together, Kaito! You betrayed me!"
What she expected was either an actual response, or, at least, that idiotic poker face she was used to. Instead, his face seemed as if he did not understand a word. Is he joking or has he really fallen from so high?
"Well, I don't know, sorry if I did, but… Who are you?" Aoko laughed scornfully. "Don't laugh, like seriously, what am I doing here, and… what the hell is this cringy costume?"
Aoko, convincing herself it is just some pathetic attempt to save himself from her anger, decided there is not much she could or had enough energy to do. After having asked Kaito to make a call, she had to admit that his acting is truly on point. He had no idea where his phone could be (thankfully it was still in the inside pocket of the jacket) and then looked at her with panic, not being able to unlock it. Aoko said something about him not being funny and took his phone to do it for him. Once again, her expectation that he would fight for his phone disappointed – now she could not help but think Kaito looks at her like a lost little boy would look at the stranger helping him to find his parents. The fear that she was now starting to feel was not calmed down by the fact that although his phone was indeed working, and she remembered how to unlock it, it had no reception. Having been told that, Kaito asked her about what they were going to do now. At first, Aoko did not respond, but just said to herself (although Kaito could hear it): "Wow, you have really lost your memory."
If right after waking up Aoko wanted to lay on the grass forever, now she wanted to find herself kilometres deep under it. She was bruised, hungry, dirty, in a forest she did not recognize, and the only person that was accompanying her was a traitor friend (could she still call him that? - it wasn't a good time to ponder) with amnesia and in a costume that could easily land him in jail. Understanding that this is one of these times where not Kaito, but she has to take everything in her hands, the first thing she decided to tackle was the last thing listed – the costume. Whether it was Aoko's authoritative tone or the fact that she was the only one who could help Kaito – something made him unhesitantly do anything she told him to. Thankfully, under the blue shirt, there was an everyday black t-shirt Aoko saw him wear quite often, so they managed to make him look quite normal if a clean black t-shirt and dirty white trousers and elegant shoes could come off as nothing more but a lack of common sense when going to a forest. When Aoko was thinking about what to do with all this clothing, she caught a glimpse of a reddish tint on Kaito's dark hair.
"Wait." Kaito hissed at her touch. He was bleeding from his head – it was not a kind of a bruise Aoko had never seen, but it was also not a kind of a bruise that would make her think it could go untreated. "Okay, listen, do you also hear the sound of water flowing? Good. We'll take these clothes and go there, clean any bruises we have, especially that one, you'll wear your tie as a head band and we'll get rid of everything else. Understood?"
Kaito, who had no other choice but to understand, nodded. Although none of them said it, both were compromising while agreeing to this plan, since Aoko really did not believe throwing Kid's clothes into a river is at least neutral for the environment, and Kaito, even not knowing what was happening, could feel that a red tie around his head was going to be a fashion murder, not to mention the rest of his outfit.
The river Aoko spoke about turned out to be actually next to them, hidden below the not so steep (thank goodness, as there was no way they would manage to run down) hill. Right after getting rid of the costume, they started to wash their bruises, not caring if the clothes get wet, since it was warm anyway. The passing time and the sound of water must have relaxed Kaito, as he finally was asking questions.
"Em, sorry miss, I see you're not too content, but I need some answers."
Aoko had just stood up to take a look at Kaito's head injury. "Yeah, go on."
"So, first… Ouch!" No matter how gentle Aoko tried to be with a bruise, the stinging feeling could not have been avoided. "Whatever. Just tell me who are you, who am I, and why the hell I was in that old school cringy costume?"
Aoko could not help but laugh at the last bit, even though it made her sadness come back for a second. "Well, I am Nakamori Aoko, you are Kuroba Kaito. We are childhood…", she hesitated for a moment. "Friends. As for your last question, I also would like to know that. Okay, done!"
Kaito, now with a red tie around his head, turned around, making Aoko laugh once again. Normally, that is before him losing memory, he would probably call her names like Ahoko and they would start their friendly argument. Now, however, he also laughed, throwing the girl off.
"That whole memory loss has made you nicer, hasn't it?"
Obviously, Kaito had no idea what she referred to, but decided to answer anyway. "I don't know. But if you want to hear more nice things from me, then I can tell you that you make me feel really warm. Oh, don't make a face like that, like, when I woke up I was pretty terrified, but seeing you made me feel safe."
Aoko felt warmth in her cheeks. "Um, that's really off your character, isn't it… Don't answer, I know you can't. It's nice, the things you said, but maybe it's just because I was the only person there or something."
"Maybe," he responded. "But I still feel like you were the best option, even if I don't remember anyone else."
They looked into each other's eyes and maybe the conversation would last longer if it weren't for a dog that appeared out of nowhere sniffing them. Just a moment later a man shouting "Magi!" came to view and was probably more surprised to see two bruised teens than they were to see him.
"Sorry about Magi. Oh, he seems to like you!"
"No reason to be sorry, he's really cute," Aoko said while Kaito started to pet the dog in a teasing manner. "He might have amnesia but that teasing nature must be something that came with his soul", she thought.
Although the old man smiled at both Aoko's comment about Magi's cuteness and Kaito's behavior, the concern on his face was still present, caused by the visible state of the teenagers. After having introduced himself as Asano Hiroshi, he asked them about their wellbeing and offered to give them a meal as well as help them get home. Kaito, interrupting Aoko's visibly dishonest claims of their good health, enthusiastically expressed his (and probably Aoko's) desire to eat something warm and get out of this wild forest.
Hiroshi laughed. "Well, I like that young boy's honesty. My wife and I have a small house in here, it is not far away, maybe ten minutes on foot."
The teenagers expressed gratitude and followed Hiroshi to his house.
Okay, so this is the first chapter out of ten I am planning to write. As a non-native speaker, I apologize for any "weird" mistakes but I don't ask for any mercy - I actually will love it if someone points them out lol. Back to the story, I can't help but laugh at the way I wrote amnesiac-Kaito's character but I promise that his initial niceness plays a role in a plot. Thanks a lot if someone actually read this chapter, as my writing style is far from perfect. Love ya guys.