I have a serious issue with remembering to add full stops. Sorry. I'm both blind to my misspells and to conversation endings. I'm trying. Correcting apps like to screw with me a lot and change words...
Sorry for the long absence. Couldn't be helped. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe 3
Aoko and Jake
Kuroba stared at the window, waiting for the house facing him. One finger tapping on the windowsill, while his eyes sunk in absolute boredom. Aoko hadn't texted since the last text at nine p.m, and he hadn't seen her since he visited her as KID that previous night.
Before that, her calls were a long list, spanning from every ten minutes since he had been late to come home. But it couldn't be helped, not really. He had his cousin to look after. He had to stalk Ginzo and Saguru all day too just to pay them a short visit like with her.
He had to.
There was a lot to cover and only one person to do all the hard work. Konosuke Jii couldn't stand out as a KID, the poor old man wasn't as flexible or hyper as he used to be in the days.
"Can't be helped," He had to work alone. 'I don't have other partners, who wouldn't backstab me for a personal goal. Or force me to work for them.' He sighed. It happened times before, nightmare, Spider, Chat noir, and all the other people who tried to fake his heist notices. 'Gonna have to make that bastard stop accusing me too.'
But Hakuba Saguru wouldn't believe him even of the sun turned blue. He was one million percent certain of what he knew, even if there was no hair to back up his claim. Kuroba and KID were very similar and up to the task. Magicians, clowns, everything fit. Kuroba was only a gentleman with older strangers, unlike KID who was never anything but a gentleman. KID and Kuroba were different, yet entirely alike. Poker face and disguises were their fields. Both had the upper hand in everything.
'Tsk… I should have been more careful.' He bit his lip, 'I have to build a brick wall between both faces... But he'd notice any change a mile away.'
Aoko's lights went up. She started walking back and forth, probably cursing her luck for waking up ten minutes late.
'Mother hen~' He watched the house wake, yells were coming up. Inspector Nakamori had no work today, so he would be stuck cooking something good. 'The poor guy...'
Beside him, his cousin hummed more in worry during his sleep. Kaito stared, unsure of what to do.
It wasn't surprising to know Snake tortured people. Anything for answers. It wasn't the first time he killed a Kuroba either. The poor teen, his entire life was turned upside down in one day. He still had no idea what to do, who to turn to. But Kaito was always on his side, always present no matter the outcome.
'If only he knew,' Kaito let the frustration sink in his heart. 'How can I tell him?'
"Halves of the same bullet." Snake's voice rang through his memories the day they were going to kill his cousin .
"No one else can take them down."
"It's your destiny to be enemies."
Words rushed through his scattering thoughts.
"Must kill the bullet."
"We only need one."
Pandora… destiny… None of it made sense! Why was it their destiny? What made them the bullets?
He sighed, "I have to get answers." Snake's and his men probably had a lair_ lairs_ somewhere, close and far. Maybe they had computers with information enough to dig that he could hack. Make use of his skills. The factory couldn't be the only hideout they had. Their system was hard for the police to crack. 'I'm not a great hacker either.' He sighed, tucking his head between his arms. "But I can impersonate one and learn how they work. Improve."
Jake turned, the pain still carved on his face. Kaito approached, brushed his fingers softly through his hair. All he wanted was for snake to Leave them alone. The boy muttered it back then before he lost his voice to his trauma, it was cracking through his last words. Now he was crying even in his sleep for the vivid memories he was reliving.
"Nii, it's okay. I'm here. Snake's gone." He muttered, gently rubbing through long strands of hair. The boy woke up startled.
Kaito opened his mouth to say something, but everything died at the tip of his tongue. Jake didn't recognize the room, of course he wouldn't. He'd never been there before tonight. He looked left then right, Kaito gave a small wave with a shaking smile. Thank lord he was still wearing his black jumpsuit.
"Mornin', nii~" His voice tried to gain control. It was a lot easier when he was KID, he couldn't act around his cousin. "How ya feelin'?"
"... Nii-san?" Jake mouthed without of voice and looked down after releasing the tears in his eyes. He wiped them, looking for a clue to know where the hell they were now.
"My place. It's just us two." He said and rolled his gaze away, "I... Umm... what do you do for fun?" Idiot. He cursed himself. That came off awkward! He resented his luck. That was the best he could say after all these years? Damm it. "Ya know, I got really bored waiting for you sleepy head to wake up. How'd you sleep if you were dosed? I wonder if this is how all healthy people sleep because they eat less sugar and get drained easily. I'm sticking with sweets till I die."
Jake blinked, nearly laughed, had he not remembered he was dreaming of his murdered parents again. Every terrifying memory. Still, he raised a weak grin, it had been so long since he saw Kaito. He was trying to help him out with his usual jokes and sense of humor since they were kids. Typical Kaito. "Fun? Well, we hang out, go places. Stuff like that... what do you do?"
Kaito gave his charpist grin, "I prank people~" Not the slightest bit of shame danced in his words. Jake hummed, feeling pity for his victims like everyone else would. How lame. "I like to perform tricks around_ as you know..." Jake hummed, "and challenging people is my thing." He winked. "You know, our Kuroba gene."
"Geniuses are alike~"
Jake had a smile on, he forgot about everything for a moment. It felt like the old days to Kaito, just the two of them, secretly meeting up and talking about random things.
Jake tried to get up, tried, but got scolded and stayed down on the bed. He sighed, "Is this how things will always be?"
"Yes," Kaito said with his KID tone, "Like it or not, it's for your own good."
The boy hummed, "So, while I rot here in bed, what are your plans?"
Kaito sat on the chair, "Well, I'm in more walls than I can count... So, I need to retaliate and find some backup. Two, I need to infiltrate a specific organization and get some answers from their safe spot. Three, catch that lunatic and skin him alive." He grinned. "Then my usual heists that make my day."
Jake nodded, "But you need to know one of them well to pretend you're them, oh, and the rest too. Or they'd realize you're a fake."
Kaito nodded, "That's exactly why I'm in walls~ Impersonating people is my field, my expertise, but as you know, it's hard to stalk people we can't find. Criminals hold a record of being low, I would know. I do the same."
"You're not really a criminal, yet~" The boy let a modest grin escape, "No need to infiltrate when you have a pro hacker on your side~ that way no one can get caught~"
KID blinked, "W-who?"
Jake face-palmed himself, sighed, then felt a wave of pain hit his guts. "My father taught me everything. I can hack anything without leaving a trace behind." Kaito was about to mention a firewall or a virus system, but Jake continued with a shrug, "They won't even know I hacked their system, the toughest one can't give an alert."
Kaito sank in more silence, "But we need to know their system first..."
Jake nodded, "I know where to find it, but I need to wait and go unnoticed." A moment of glares followed, "dad managed to whisper it before_"
"Okay," He stopped, "I don't want to know. Really. I cried over one Kuroba twin, I can't cry over the other."
Jake kept his silence, recalling the day of the funeral. Kaito had been staring down at his father's grave, blames shooting at the stone from his silent eyes. He couldn't approach in public, but it was his uncle's funeral, so he put down flowers and went back to his parents. Chikage and Kaito knew him, everyone else didn't. Their resemblance was hidden with a simple hat Jake had on.
"What do you mean Kaito won't come today! He's ditching school now!" Aoko slammed her hands on the desk, "What's that bakaito up to!"
Keiko pursed her lips, "Nothing, apparently. Kanno-sensei said he called in sick, straight to the principle."
"Keiko... he often does that for slamming a prank into our face when we least expect it!"
The girl shook her head, "He'd tell Kanno sensei that, if a prank was involved, not the principle. Huge difference. He'd get expelled. He said he couldn't make it today. He apologized like ten times... even Kanno-sensei believes he's really not coming today."
Aoko didn't respond, her silence lasted longer than Keiko expected. What did the idiot do this time? "Humm, Aoko will check on him after class then."
The students took their seat before professor Kanno came inside. Everyone was whispering something about a prank theory, trying to watch out for anything suspicious or something not in its place. Kuroba may have grown predictable, but he always acted in ways normal people couldn't think of. No one could know or anticipate the trick, not after it was too late. A combination of a prankster and a genius wasn't safe for humanity.
No, people like Kuroba Kaito should have no interaction with the outside world.
The level of creativity (Kaito's) and stress (The student's), increased every week.
Saguru looked at the empty seat and turned, nothing showing on his face. Aoko caught a glimpse of his disappointment. Akako sat down with no care in the world, flipping pages of a weird thick book out of boredom, sighed and threw her gaze to the window. There wasn't a dash of worry in her face, Saguru on the other hand, didn't step out of his musings all day.
Lunch break was a different story. She caught a glimpse of his phone, he had been checking police reports. He had also texted Kuroba, but she couldn't see anything of the message. Saguru had quickly stashed his phone the moment she stood beside him and asked him to join them. Keiko forced a smile, he thanked their gesture, then apologized.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to, Aoko-san. I have a lot of work to do, perhaps, another time?"
"S-sure!" she turned away, Keiko slammed herself and sighed.
"Oh, too bad! We'll have all the fun on our own, while you read boring police reports."
He smiled, "I promise to make it up next time." Hopefully when Kuroba was back to school. He'd have a lot more opportunities of analyzing his face and taunting him in the process. That should do. 'It should teach him a lesson.'
Maybe the idiot would stop making visits at windows in his flashy white KID suit.
As she expected, Saguru had been digging information since she told him about her confrontation with KID's enemies. Now, she was more than certain he knew what the entire situation was about. Or at least had a suspect in mind. For many reasons, she didn't think it was a problem for him. He accepted the intel about KID's pursuers and kept it to himself (after multiple accusations he directed around the class clown, then stopped. Hopefully, he understood it was pointless to accuse a normal- insane- prankster just because he was a magician while asking him about the people who were gunning at his head almost every heist.
The world had tones of magicians. Kuroba, by far, had tones of alibis, for all anyone knew.
She bit her lips, there had to be an explanation behind KID's acts. It took him eight years to return, maybe he was that injured and had to recover correctly?
Her gaze went back to Kaito's desk. 'Aoko thought idiots don't get sick!'
*ATCHU*
Kaito wiped his nose, 'Taku, someone must be talking about me...' He grunted. "I'll be back in a sec, stay here and don't get up," He said but didn't turn. Jake hummed, "Be a good patient and I'll let you get up next week."
"That's too long..."
"Five days," Kaito shrugged, "Deal with it~" He grinned, turned and closed the door.
Jake sighed when his cousin was long gone. He turned his head, staring at the pitch-black room. He still had someone, being alone wasn't something he could deal with. Kaito was all he had left. And Aunt Chikage, if she'd come back.
'I'll be back in a sec~' Kaito's voice sang in his ears.
Jake hummed nonchalantly, then closed his eyes. There was too much pain in one small spot.
"K-Kaito!"
He opened his eyes, weak and tired.
"Taku, Kaito, what got into you?"
A girl was in front of him. He tried to see better. His mind couldn't make sense out of anything. The said girl put her hand on his forehead. His body betrayed him, he couldn't speak or move. Even worse, his eyes were closing.
"It's high!" She bit her lip and backed away, quickly fetching medications out of the box. "Kaito? Wake up!" She gently shook him. Pills and a cup of water were ready in her hand, "Take these," All he could see was blurry images. "Just take these." She kept one hand on his shoulder, "Aoko will help you get up,"
Neither of their strength could move him a muscle. Nothing in him responded. She slid her free arm under his back and gently hosted him up. The boy passed out, which made her worries escalate quickly.
She moved, startled when something landed on her shoulder. She looked at the person with wide eyes, then back at the boy on the bed. She blinked, "Aoko's confused..." Said person took the boy and rested him on his free arm, "why is he playing you!" Aoko snarled at him. "AND you faked your illness, bakaito!"
Kaito her gave her a fixed glare. "I need you to stay with me for a bit longer, okay?" He muttered to the boy, Aoko stood silent after she handed him the pills. The boy opened his eyes, a failed weak attempt to remain conscious. Kaito was holding him towards him, a gentle look in his eyes and a smile. But Jake's eyes called on the nightmares, he forced them shut, one hand clutching his hair.
Kaito slipped the pill in his cousin's mouth and gave him the water. Reluctantly, and with major efforts, he managed to swallow the water. Kaito helped him back down on the mattress, then sat beside him. Aoko didn't say a word. "It's okay... it's okay." He mumbled, "they're safe," The pill needed a few minutes to take effect, he needed to keep him in one piece until it did. "It'll go down." He whispered to Aoko.
The boy was sick, there was no mistake in that. The bandages around his head and hands were a major giveaway of something terrible that happened. Even the redness on his face was enough for her to guess what could have happened.
She sat down, watching her childhood friend tending to his lookalike. She strode to the closet, took a hand towel and soaked it in the bathroom sink. All the while, her thoughts remained on the two in the bedroom. She returned quickly with the cold damp towel and put it on the boy's forehead. Kaito allowed her to act, simply because she knew better.
'As long as she doesn't know about the bullet wounds.'
Then they would have to explain everything to her father, and possibly, expose themselves for their secret double lives. Jake didn't have anything to hide, he was a normal teen, but his ties to the organization were enough to have targets on his friend's heads. In Kaito's case, it was his classmates and the task force's heads. Everyone he met.
Jake looked between the two, regretting the moment he did so. His eyes were hurting, everything in his mind felt like it was a snail. His hearing was slow just as his sense of comprehension.
After an hour, the fever dropped. Kaito directed his gaze to Aoko, words left unsaid on a blank face he often gave her whenever he felt in her debt. She glared him, then dragged him to the chikage's room behind Kaito's.
She crossed her arms, "Aoko demands an explanation."
"What for?" He blinked surprised, "He's sick."
She shook her head, "The bandages! What happened to him?"
"Oh, that!" He stared into her eyes, "Muggers. They broke into his house, then caused a fire. He got seriously hurt. But he's alright now."
"Alright? Don't give Aoko that answer! He doesn't look alright, you idiot!"
Kaito rolled his eyes away. "Aoko, the doctor wouldn't have discharged him if he wasn't." She didn't need to know he kidnapped him from the hospital when the spy doctor tried to make a move.
"Aoko doesn't believe you!"
He blinked back, a strong sense of surprise in his face. "That's the truth! He got hurt and I had to take him to the hospital."
She crossed her arms, "Why isn't he there now?"
"He was discharged?"
"Oh? Discharged? Then explain why you didn't call for an ambulance when you saw how bad his case was a second ago?" no words could come out of his mouth. "This proves Aoko's point!"
"You know, not everyone calls an ambulance for a fever-" but Aoko stared deeply into his soul. It made him shiver, whether he showed it or not.
"It has something to do with them?" But Kaito stared at her, an act of confusion written in his eyes. "Save it, Kaito. Aoko knows. Now spit it or tousan gets involved." He kept his mouth shut, not sure what he should say. "Don't think Aoko will believe any excuse you have. Who is that boy? What happened to him?"
Kaito felt a wave of anger slip through his face. No, he shouldn't get mad. Jake was too weak to handle anything. "Aoko, I'm telling you the truth! It was an accident!"
"It's not an accident!" She yelled at him. He put his finger to his lips and gestured at the room next door. Where the boy should be asleep. Kaito was right. He needed to rest. "You're keeping him here instead of a hospital. Is his state connected to those killers who are after you? They hurt him?"
Fear was dancing behind his poker face. How did she know?
From her words, she was confident. Maybe she overheard everything, the name Snake called KID by. Something was wrong. She didn't act familiar when he visited her as KID, maybe his visit tipped her with solid proof? What doubtful thoughts did he confirm true?
Kaito hissed back muffled shouts. "For God's sake Aoko, stop yelling. He needs to rest and shouting won't help!" She bit her lip, "don't throw accusations around!" He continued, "What killers! No one is after m_"
She gave a loud sigh of impatience running out and watched he blinked, "Shut it, baKaito. Aoko knows you're hiding something. What happened to that boy!"
"Thieves,"
she glanced behind her. The boy continued, his hand leaning on the doorframe for support.
"He's not lying." He was weakly standing. Aoko assumed his legs had injuries too. Kaito quickly went to him and forced him to sit down on Chikage's bed, then sat beside him.
"Idiot, I told you to stay in bed!" Kaito muttered.
"Nii-san, who is she?"
Kaito turned to his childhood friend, "Aoko is my neighbor. And an old childhood friend." The girl didn't respond. "It's okay, she's a friend." But don't say the full truth, his eyes added.
Aoko crocked an eyebrow at Kaito, yet remained standing, arms on her waist. The boy didn't trust her? Why? He had to know if she was trustworthy before he'd talk?
His lips barely held a smile. "They came to my house... shot at us... then left. Don't blame Kaito, he had nothing to do with it." his weak eyes stared at her. "I've already gotten him through enough."
First names, were they close friends?
"Thieves?" She crocked an eyebrow at him.
The boy nodded, eyes barely able to keep their focus. "They weren't caught. Kaito's trying to keep me low."
"He saw their faces," Kaito added, "They know his name, taking him back to a hospital is a major risk. They'll be looking for him, and they can be anyone." His face added the rest, 'I'm not letting him die!'
She sat down on the only chair in the room, "Is that the truth?" The boy nodded. "What's your name?"
He looked at his cousin, Kaito gave a weak smile. The boy pursed his lips, "Jake."
"But don't tell anyone..." Kaito added. "Can't let word gets out that there's a teenage boy in this house, or anyone other than me..."
She sighed, "Last name?"
"Kuroba," Both said. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Oh, come on! You expect Aoko to belie_" but the boy nodded, took his ID out of his pocket and handed it to her. She bit back anger from showing on her face as she carefully read each word. "But Kaito never mentioned you before." The ID could be fake. Maybe the boy had a mask on.
The scratches and sweat on his face prove otherwise. The face was real. Maybe the ID was too...
He raised a weak smile, "I didn't mention him either. We lived countries apart. I haven't seen him in years." He forced a smile on, "I'm his cousin. Our fathers are identical twins, that's why we look alike, Kaito and me," His smile couldn't hold, his face was paler than it should be. Since the room was lit, she could see everything clearly. Jake had more innocence in his face like the younger Kaito had when she first met him under the clock tower a while back. "I used to live outside, in the US." Hs paused when pain took over in his sides. "My family only came here weeks ago." It was clear Kaito was lying to her. She didn't know he was KID. Whoever she was, he didn't want her in on his double life. "Thought a little family reunion would be nice." He gave a small smile. "Wasn't really expecting we'd still be reflections."
She stared at Kaito, who had a grin on his proud face.
"Blame oyaji, I'm innocent of all charges." He added a quick grin, which faded quickly into a straight line on his face. He kept Jake steady, "You okay, nii?" The boy nodded. "You know, as I'm an expert in lying, you suck."
The boy allowed a smile to show on his face. "Sorry, Nii. You worry a lot."
"Excuse me? Of course I worry!"
"Why didn't you mention him before?" Aoko's voice brought their attention back to her.
"You didn't ask." Kaito said, one finger nubbing at his nose. "I doubt anyone asked about any possible existing cousins. They can barely deal with one Kuroba, no need to add more info on the other crazy Kurobas." But Jake turned to him and glared him, "Jake is the only sane Kuroba in the family. He's nothing like us, I was surprised and disappointed, equally."
The boy turned his gaze to her, "And I was surprised he's insane." Jake added a soft smile, "He was a whole lot innocent back when I last saw him, like eight years ago..." his mouth stiffened into a line, "A sec ago, when you two were talking..." She lifted an eyebrow, trying to take in the opposite personalities the two had, "Who is after Kaito? Nii, you didn't go after my bad guys, did you? Are you crazy?"
"I did not go after anyone. They were long gone. And your description of average sized men wearing a sock on their heads doesn't really help the police to help me pin point a target."
Jake turned to her. "Then who were you talking about?"
Aoko forced her lips shut, "Nothing. Aoko misunderstood." Kaito kept his eyes away from her. 'Don't think you can fool Aoko.' her glare told him. "Where are your parents?"
Both Kuroba boys looked away, she furred her brows. Jake shook his head, her hands clasped on her mouth. "Oh, Kami!" She muttered, voice barely heard.
"They- they were killed about two weeks ago." He barely said. "By those guys."
"... I'm so sorry," her lips trembled. The poor boy. He wasn't okay, he was struggling too. She felt like she was seeing Kaito during his struggle when his father died. According to Chikage, it was a Kuroba thing to keep pain in their hearts, to stand still alone in their chosen frozen time and dwell on the pain on their own. Kaito took seven years to be himself again, but in truth, he was faking it. He only relied on pranks to distract himself from the void in his life and look okay.
Kaito bit on his lips, "J-just don't tell anyone. If they know he's here, they're going to kill him too." Aoko nodded, "our class can't know anything either."
She glared him and then hit him in the gut. "Bakaito, you could have trusted Aoko!" He tried to catch his breath, arms clutching his stomach. "Aoko could have helped with everything!"
The boy gave a shaking smile, pitying his cousin. "He has the tendency to suffer alone."
"Hey! I haven't seen you since Oya-" He rolled his eyes away, "I don't act like an open book, nii. You and I both deal with everything on our own. It's a Kuroba thing, Kãsan said so~"
Aoko hummed, agreeing with her friend.
Jake glared him, "So not the best playmate I had ages ago... What a shame~"
Aoko laughed, "Cousins? Aoko can't decide~" She giggled, " Quite alike~ You sure he's not your brother? From a sane bloodline~?"
Kaito pursed his lips, Jake blinked. "Aoko, you want to play with a kid, go to preschool!"
She crossed her arms, "Jake-kun, did anyone ever tell you that your cousin is a clown who likes to torture people and ruin their lives, just for fun?"
He opened his mouth, words left unsaid for a short moment. "I heard now~" He added a smile then turned to his cousin to glare him. "I'm disappointed in you, cuz!"
Kaito cleared his throat, eyes only on Aoko. He didn't even listen to Jake, maybe he pretended he didn't hear a word. Then again, offending his pride often made everything else go on mute until he'd sort things out. "Hey! Don't go saying things! I get bored, not my fault!"
Jake stared at him, "You used to do tricks for people to have fun... I have a lot of fixing to do!"
Kaito grimaced, "I'm not changing. Deal with it." He shut his lips firmly, arms crossed with determination. "My personality isn't subject for resting. Too late."
"Magicians are gentlemen, " Both turned to Jake, "Your father was. He'd be ashamed to see you're using your skills to make fun of people."
Aoko bit her lip.
Kaito grew silent. The father card. It had to be the father card. Why couldn't it be his morals?
Aoko stared between the two. So he could accept his father being mentioned on his cousin's lips? That was good at least. She forced a laugh, "Aoko likes this kid~ We'd all be happy if you succeeded, Jake-kun."
"Keh," Kaito grit his teeth and turned, "Goodluck with that!" But Jake smiled. "Oh, you're on, brother!"
Aoko promised to keep everything she heard and saw a secret. She stayed beside the boy that night. Kaito offered her to sleep in his mother's room, instead of on a mat, cramped beside him in the small space. Her father didn't ask anything, she was next door, sleeping over at her best friend's house, after ten years of not sleeping over. Which was still okay and questions could be asked later.
Yup. Nothing fishy.
Aoko concluded a lot from her new acquaintance with the Kuroba cousin. Jake was more than a nice boy. For many hours, she doubted he was a kuroba in the first place. "You sure you're not adopted?" The boys smiled, head peacefully nudged in Kaito's pillow. "Jake-kun, Aoko is curious, how come you're so normal?" He turned his face to her, then shrugged. The chair she was sitting in was starting to hurt.
"If it makes you feel any better, I had no connection with my relatives. My parents and I traveled a lot, they aren't magicians or anything. They're entirely normal people. Again, no communication with my cousin to learn anything from him."
She hummed, "Chikage-san doesn't mind most of Kaito's acts. Aoko thinks she encourages him~"
Kaito grunted, "Will you two stop talking about me?" His head peering from over his mat. "You've been at it for hours. Let me sleep already!" It was midnight. He grunted and turned towards the wall.
Jake turned his gaze to him, "But I want to know about the prankster everyone's afraid of!" He smiled, but Kaito wasn't looking. Maybe he really was tired. "Nakamori-san is only filling the gaps..."
"Just say Aoko, you're a foreigner, right? No need for formalities. It sounds strange, especially that you look so much like Kaito." She turned to the boy lying down behind them next to the wall. "Hey, bakaito, don't you dare make a switch. Got it?"
Kaito laughed, "Nii doesn't know any acting skills. It won't work. Besides, I doubt he'd be able to pull a good act, there's only one Kuroba Kaito, after all~" He chuckled, "He'll just fail miserably. Good people can't pretend to be bad. It's gonna be obvious something's not right. I have no morals, remember?"
"Bakaito."
"Ahoko~"
Jake sighed, "Can you two wait until you're alone then scold each other?" Both shrugged, "Aoko-chan, I'd have to know him like an open book first. Him and all of his friends, habits, and thoughts. Hard to happen, I'm still new here." She grinned, satisfied. "How exactly are you two best friends? Aoko-chan, you have to be a saint if you can keep your temper for so long. If he wasn't my cousin, I would've long strangled him. Maybe called the asylum. Sadly, he's family. I have to bare him."
Kaito grunted.
In his heart, he could hear the unsaid words. 'I'd always have your back, nii-san.' that was what family does. They were all alone now, the only Kurobas left in the world. The last three standing after all of Snake's attacks. Who knew when one of them would fall next? Who the next victim would be? Chikage, Jake, then Kaito?
Whatever the issue was, Snake wanted Kaito to see his entire family die first. Then again, he made the exact promise to Jake.
Aoko chuckled, "Aoko is used to Kaito. He gets bored, but he's still good... deep, deep, deep down."
"Hey! Don't say it like that! If you don't like me that much, you can just pretend I don't exist! People like you aren't fun to prank anyway." He grimaced, arms hugging a spare pillow. He had his back to them, they couldn't see any of his expressions. His lips pursed, "Everyone thinks I'm the bad guy. Go on, sue me and file a crime."
"Aoko has plenty..." She raised her fingers, one by one, counting each assault, "One, traumatizing students on a daily basis. Two, being a danger to society. Three, the cause of every innocent stranger's nightmare."
Jake sank his mind, 'you're KID, of course, you're the bad guy.'
Kaito's eye twitched, it was like his cousin's words were spoken aloud. Then again, he knew the boy well enough to expect what he'd say. "Hey! Okay, fine! I'll never prank people again. And I'll move to another city, be rid of your complaints."
"LAIR~" both laughed.
"Face it, Kaito. We know you. You won't leave all your victims behind. That poker face won't work on us."
He pulled the cover over his body and pretended they didn't exist anymore. For a short while, Aoko kept her stares on him. Eventually, he turned. "What? You've been staring at me for eight and a half minutes. Got something, say it!"
"Jake-kun, cover your ears..." She muttered, but the boy actually did. Aoko blinked, "... Kaito, Aoko had a conversation with KID the other day." He blinked, she was analyzing his face. No, she saw through his poker face. She studied his reactions, looking for a slip. "And, Aoko has many proofs" she lowered Jake's hands, "That you're Kaitou Kid. And he knows."
"Who's Kaitou KID?" Jake asked, confusion written on his face.
'Oh, God! He's good!' Kaito grinned behind his stiff face, 'He'll be a perfect partner~'
Aoko rubbed her temple, "Oh, right... you're not from here. KID is a harmless international criminal, who uses his magician skills to steal things, then returns them to their rightful owners. Until yesterday," the boy arched an eyebrow, "He stole a file from the police and said he wasn't going to return it." Jake was glaring his cousin from an unseeable force. "And he sends a notice declaring the crime before he does it."
"I knew the crime rate in Japan was lower than the other countries... but I'm sure that's not how a thief should be." He stared at her, then turned to his cousin, "Unless he's just practicing for future real crimes." Kaito blinked, "Who knows?" He turned to Aoko, "But why would my not-so-sane cousin be that criminal? Does KID prank people too?... I'm starting to think it's a magician thing... Uncle often pranked my dad when they were younger. They fought for a while. I don't like magicians anymore."
Aoko had fierce eyes on them, "Aoko knows sane magicians don't, unless they're actually insane! Only KID is insane enough to sign his own death sentence while making it into a show for everyone to see, and Kaito fits the bill! There's no one to rival them!" No words were escaping them. Aoko grinned, "But, since Kaito won't say, Aoko will continue then. There were many times you and KID acted alike. Let's not forget, you wear the same cologne. Heck, you breathe, walk, and talk alike!"
Kaito furrowed his brows, "To think that bastard Hakuba stopped falsely accusing me, for you to start... What is it with you people?" He stared into her eyes, "If I had known this day would come, I would have quit tricks forever and left Japan for good."
Both Jake and Aoko glared him.
"Gentleman Kaito is exactly like KID. Your tricks were hinted to rival KID's, on multiple occasions. Come on, Kaito, do you really want to drag this out for any longer?"
He grinned, "Like I told Hakuba," He sank his back into the mat, "The suspect is innocent until he is proven guilty." Jake nodded, then glared him when she wasn't looking. "Physical touchable proof, Aoko. Besides, KID used my face before, like he used your father's, yours, and many others. No one says your KID, no one says I'm KID. Just you and that Hakuba idiot. So I will hummer you, let's say I'm KID, bring forward your physical proof."
Aoko frowned, "... Aoko doesn't have any physical proof."
"Then I'm innocent~" He smiled.
"The wounds!" but Kaito hoisted one eyebrow, "KID had wounds from Sun Halo's incident. Don't think Aoko didn't notice you held back on moving the past week!"
He glared her, "Do I need to remind you of my failed attempt to walk on a thin line?" Then sat up straight, then lifted his shirt to his chest. There was nothing there. "I only bruised my leg but it healed."
She stared at his skin with wide eyes. There wasn't a single scratch where the glass shard had stabbed KID.
"See? I'm perfectly well. Not a single scar either." no bullet wounds, no bruises. He saw how she bit her lip. He grinned behind his poker face, it worked. He'd just have to do the same with Hakuba and Akako (who no longer cared and just ignored anything that had to do with KID). His eyes met her gaze, "If you people just think logic before blaming poor little me, everything would be a whole lot better."
Aoko clenched her fist, "Aoko will get you your proof. Aoko will unmask KID, and prove your face is his." Her finger pointed at him, "Aoko will keep pulling until it's only skin! Got it?"
He glared her, "Mah, alright. Do whatever you want."
"I feel bad for that guy..." Jake muttered. 'I'd make the run for it if I were you.' He grinned at Kaito.
Kaito covered a yawn and glared them. "If you two blabbermouths are done talking, I'd like to sleep so I can stick beside you and make sure you're okay." He turned and eyed his cousin, "if you don't fall asleep in the next ten minutes, I will drug you. Got it?" Jake narrowed his eyes away, Aoko laughed and left to the other room.
"Goodnight, you two~"
She pulled herself off the chair and strode to the other room. She tucked herself under the cover. It smelled nice. Kaito kept the room clean, should his mother decide to come unannounced again. The room next door had gone quiet, she didn't know if they were murdering each other or if they fell asleep. Jake needed all the rest he could get, Kaito had the right to complain. She had long figured he wouldn't go back to school the next morning, he'd stay beside Jake, no matter how long it would take. Family was more important than school.
Two days later, Kaito and Aoko walked down the street towards Ekoda high.
"Feels good to be out in the sun!" He stretched his arms over his head, "Been a tiring week!" She avoided meeting his gaze, he snorted. "You still won't talk to me? Fine, we'll have it your way, Aoko." She turned to look at him, but he was looking at the sidewalks. "Of all people to turn on me, it had to be you."
She felt a dash of guilt in her stomach. A salt sprinkle, considering how much she wanted to strangle KID for far too many reasons.
One, for being a pain in the neck to her father for the past years.
Two, for causing trouble to every officer in every country he set foot in for the past years.
Three, for thinking he was unstoppable and calling himself a phantom... even though people threw it first.
Four, for lying to people, thinking it would keep them safe if no one knew about the group gunning at him. It would keep them safe, but for how long?
Five, how long was he going to deny people with evidence?
Six, she could just role Kaito's sleeves and expose the grip she had on KID the other day. The handprint should match her's, and it had been months since she last strangled Kaito's arm. The mark shouldn't be there if he wasn't KID.
Seven...
'Okay, Aoko ran out of points...' She daggered the street for a while, 'Physical proof...' she'd need more than the handprint. Catching Kaito red-handed with KID's items, maybe, not the card gun, cause everyone knew he had one long before KID reappeared. She had to get her hand on the market who sold them...
Then again, unmasking KID and making his face a tomato maybe wasn't a bad plan after all.
But she'd need a bit more. She'd have to pull a thousand mask now that she gave Kaito a headstart.
Then it flashed to her. A sparkling idea dancing like a lamp bulb over her head as her eyes gleamed.
'Bullet wounds!'
Then again, her overthinking killed it. If Kaito had confronted Jake's attackers, he'd possibly have a wound or two. Which could explain why he ditched school (not only to tend to his cousin's injuries)
With KID involved, it wasn't going to get her anywhere. Masters of disguises_ and God knows what other skills_ were hard to foil. But he knew she was watching his every move, waiting for her to catch him slip up. That should be enough to make him slip up. Aoko grinned behind her own poker face. He'd never see it coming.
'I so see it coming!' He stared at the ceiling of their classroom. He ignored her and acted like his old prankster self. Walking between the desks and placing traps and tricks for his unfortunate victims of the day. He took the liberty to fill Kanno's desk with glitter and confetti and added motion trigger for it to explode the moment the drawer opened. He set a bucket full of confetti and glue above the door, which he kept slightly open for the bucket to hold. The second oldest trick in the book. But since he never used it before, no one would see a simple trick coming.
She glared him the entire way. There were no students there yet, she and Kaito came early. Six in the morning early. Coming to school this early was either to taunt her or truly to set a complicated trick. She knew he wanted to instill traps. He never woke on time if that wasn't the case.
But watching him set his traps in place was different.
Watching a magician set his tricks in motion only made her mind want to anticipate what each one would do. And who the victims were going to be. He won't let her rot out the tricks, or warn his victims. Which meant, he was going to silence her somehow, probably tie her up in the restrooms until all the crisis on humanity had long been ensued.
Kaito pulled a can from his uniform and set it in the desk of the most unfortunate student in the class. But that wasn't the end. He walked to her desk, took her mop with a glare on his face and tossed it out the window. "There. Now there's no more issues to worry about."
"Aoko will hit you with something else!"
He strode to Saguru's desk and coated the chair with something transparent (glue?) and put a piece of paper inside the desk with a stuffed animal that would most likely explode in the detective's face.
Watching him lay his traps was eye-catching. It wasn't enough to learn how he thinks, but it was a good start. She continued to observe him. That was probably what KID usually did, arriving early, watching people, stalking them... With his amazing blending skills and the means to stay low, everything was in the palm of his hand.
Kaito dusted his hands, proud of his work. It was seven-thirty, he sat down in his desk. "I should've got popcorn~"
There were tricks and mechanisms she didn't understand, but if he kept her stick around, she'd find out. He didn't put anything in her territory, not with her watching. 'Aoko better be careful.' She shot a fishy glare at him. He must've done something.
Another witty idea flashed her mind. She grinned.
Kaito backed away. "... Aoko, can you not glare me like a cold-blooded killer, thirsty for my blood?"
She grinned, "You better hope that's all Aoko will do. Besides, the whole class will want you dead." He grinned, approving. "You took it a little extreme this time." Or was he trying to impress her with what he could do? "Don't you think you should create a trick, instead of using known ones?"
'And let you see my creative KID skills, not in a billion years!'
He grinned, the insane grin Kuroba Kaito gave. "Who'd see it coming?" She sighed and dropped her head on the desk, "Even the oldest tricks and lies in the book never fail. They'll try to be careful about complicated things, they won't think of small old tricks, kekekeke~"
"That's what you do as KID too?" She glared him with moon eyes, but he lifted a brow, "Aoko will direct that back to you when KID is unmasked." She grinned, then lowered her lips into a straight line, "Aoko was hoping for something new. You disappointed Aoko, this was boring."
He shrugged, "I'm still tired from last night. Planing something big needs energy, I need to store some first."
That explained all the sugary drinks in his bag. "So that's how it is~"
He cracked his fingers, "Now, watch and learn, but don't be obvious about it!" He grinned, "poker face, can't let them suspect anything!"
"Oh, so Aoko gets front seats?" and he grinned, "Great, just great! Partner in crime! Aoko will get expelled."
"Make one attempt to stop my pranks, and I will gladly store you away in a small space where no one can hear you, oh and, I'll use duck tape."
"Whatever!" She dismissed him and turned to the window. He lifted his legs on his desk. Seconds later, he popped his phone out and skimmed through his daily online searches.
"What, looking for a new target? Heard there's one down the second street, it's not a big prize but if you want to gloat about a new victory of successful thefts, it should be on your list."
He turned and glared her, "Seriously, Aoko. I'm getting tired of this. Want to propose targets for KID to steal, go ahead and say it to him. I'm pretty sure he has a page for fans' suggestions." He turned back to his phone, then held back a yelp. "God, you've got to be kidding me!" He pocketed it away, grimacing over the memory. "Just what I needed!"
Aoko's eyes landed on him, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." But she stared more at him until he felt his sweat run down his face. "Kasan..." He turned, fingers twisted behind his head, "she sent over a gift, not one I'd like to have... God, that woman doesn't know how to be supportive of her son!"
Aoko grinned, "another fish-themed gift?"
His lips trembled, "A big fish-shaped carpet for my room... Kãsan claimed it needed warmth and a carpet would be a nice touch..." He grimaced, 'Using people's fears against them. Taku.' He sighed, "How's that supposed to get me to surpass it? Geez, forcing people isn't the way!" Why did he have to be the former fear Kaitou's son? "I'm moving out. I swear. I'll go on a budget and I'll leave that crazy woman. She can taunt someone else."
Aoko chuckled. "Poor Kaito~ But Aoko will take her side and make sure her naughty boy doesn't run away from home."
"Don't you dare." He quietly turned at the first sound approaching their classroom door.
The fun was about to start. She knew, because whatever cat hearing he had, he relaxed himself in a chair and a bag of popcorn was suddenly in his hands.
The door knob slowly moved. There were two heads. The early pair.
They would all suffer. One at a time. Maybe that was more fun to left no chance to warn anyone behind them.
Did he sabotage their clocks?
He could have.
That was the only explanation why they weren't all behind the door about to enter.
