Deadly misunderstanding

If someone asked her, Aoko couldn't say what woke her up that night.

Opening her eyes, Aoko found her heart beating wildly in her chest. She looked around and found herself inside her room, just like when she had gone to bed – around an hour ago if what her clock told her was true. Placing a hand on her chest, she tried to get her breathing under control again, tried to slow her heartbeat into a healthy rhythm and closed her eyes again as whatever woke her up must be long gone, when she heard it.

It was faint but she was alone in the house right now and everything around her was silent – due to the fact that it was the middle of the night during the week when most people needed their sleep and had to wake up early in the morning. And probably because her senses went haywire – for whatever reason.

But she heard it.

The creaking sound of the one step in the lower part of the staircase she was so careful of whenever she came home late or sneaked out after her father had long gone to bed.

Immediately, her heartbeat went from nearly calmed down to running a marathon and a cold shudder went down her spine.

Her father wasn't at home yet, she was sure. His steps were much heavier and he never cared much about not waking her up – since she usually slept like a stone anyway and maybe subconsciously she knew when her father came home that it was him and she didn't wake up.

But this – she could nearly hear them breathing, whoever it was, or maybe it was just her panicking mind telling her things she just imagined. She could hear how they crept along the wall, slowly taking step after step after step, slowly getting closer to her room, to her door, opening it-

Shuddering again, Aoko jumped out of the bed. She knew she was fully panicking now, activating her fight-or-flight reflex and making her realize that if whoever was already going upstairs she had nowhere left to go except jump from her window but then Aoko heard the handle of her door being pulled down, ever so slowly and her chance to run through the window went down the drain. Just like that.

And then, before the door was pulled open and the dark clothed figure stepped inside, she had fled behind said door, her heart pounding in her chest, hearing the blood rush in her ears.

The tension in her body felt like it would kill her right away, the breath stuck in her lungs, her hands gripping the baseball bat with strength she's not been aware she possessed. And then when the dark figure went through the door, so close to Aoko that she could touch that person, she froze, her desperate idea of striking whoever walked through the door left her mind as fast as it had come and it left her stuck to the place, unable to move.

Terror raged through her body like a wild beast and Aoko wished nothing more than to have her father at her side, have this burglar or murderer or whoever the hell he was gone. She wanted to see Kaito again, she wished he was here with her with his calm demeanor, with his knowledge about everything and anything. Kaito would surely know what to do in such a situation and not cower behind a door, hoping beyond hope no one would find her. Kaito would have probably long left through the balcony and alarmed the authorities.

But Kaito wasn't here and when she looked away from the person walking through her room, pressing further into the wall as to not get seen, she found her phone blinking on the nightstand at her bed, far far away from her hiding spot, from her reach. There was no way she could call help.

"She must be somewhere in the house. Keep looking!"

It was a man's voice speaking as silently as possible into a comm, probably, a man as burly as a bear dressed all in black, like those black ops, with what looked like a shotgun.

Aoko knew she was dead, if they found her.

The girl nearly gasped and jumped in fear when the guy turned back around, biting her own tongue to shut herself up and stood rigidly behind the door, making herself as small as possible, as invisible as she could be, while the cold dread gripped her fiercely.

The guy left, never even so much as looked in her direction behind the door and Aoko couldn't help but sag in relief, slightly, briefly, because it wasn't over and if she didn't leave right now, he'd come back and discover her hiding spot.

And Aoko could have gone for the window, her balcony and she could have jumped out for it wasn't as high and even if her fall would let them know where she was, it was enough time to jump over the fence and run for Kaito's safety. Because Kaito's house wasn't too far away and she knew where he kept the surrogate key and they'd never find her there.

But Aoko's mind was fuddled with unrestricted fear and panic and she didn't know why she stepped through her door to the hall but she did, making her heart do somersaults in her chest but not in the good way. And she stumbled over her own two feet because her body trembled like a leaf.

Just before she fell on the ground though, she managed to steady herself on the wall but let go of the baseball bat in the process. Time froze for a millisecond, when Aoko watched the wood fall, attempting to grab it before it hit the floor but as fuddled as her mind was so was her body and the sound of the bat hitting the ground felt like the sound of a bullet fired and Aoko wondered if maybe a bullet was fired because there was no way the bat could be that loud. But then she heard the telltale heavy steps leave her father's room, and she knew it was the bat and they knew her whereabouts now. But before he rounded the corner, she was already sprinting towards the staircase.

"Catch her!" the voice behind her screamed before a shot was fired.

It was the loudest sound she'd ever heard in her whole life and Aoko was sure she'd never be able to hear again. She'd never, if she survived this, forget the sound. She'd never forget the feeling of the bullet just scraping by her head, missing but not quite. She felt it. On her cheek, it was there, it hit her. But not quite. Except the ringing in her ears she felt no pain so the bullet must have missed, right?

Aoko jumped and threw herself down the floor, hitting her head multiple times on the steps, crying out in pain, in fear and surprise but then she was back on her feet and sprinting down the rest of the steps.

She wanted to turn left, to the genkan, and leave through the front door, when said door was swung open and yet another black clothed ops person stood right there, making Aoko turn right instead, barely missing yet another bullet hurled towards her and all she could do was flee.

She ran through the hallway, her back unguarded, unprotected, as fast as she could, as humanly possible, and she was sure Kaito'd be so proud of her speed because that must have been the fastest she's ever been.

And then there was movement to her right, just when she was at the dining table, and her body just reacted, jumping to the side when an arm grabbed for her, ducking out of the way. She then grabbed the chair next to her and hurled it towards the black guy next to her, then right afterwards jumped over the table to the other side to get some much needed space between them.

Despite her quick acting, another shot was fired and when Aoko got back up, she felt the burning pain on her arm and wondered if she was hit straight on or just brushed but it mattered little as her mind went into overdrive because she would die diediediedie.

And then she found herself at the door to their garden, all she had to do was push it open and step outside, leave the house, run to her freedom when yet another bullet was shot and pain spread through her like a fire, burning her, robbing her of air, choking her, drowning her in pain.

She heard glass break and fall to the ground and it was a few moments later, when the pain was numbing her mind, that she realized she was shot right through the glass of the door and oh god, she saw black spots all over and she'd die now, wouldn't she?

She barely registered the black op next to her, pointing the shotgun right at her head, whispering something. Something which sounded too much like we've warned you time and time again, Kaitou Kid, that's what you get for not listening to us but Aoko wasn't too sure because that was when her memory got bleary and she remembered seeing the full moon above her and the cold air caressing her dying body and then – nothing.

Looking at her hands, Aoko found they looked real. Five fingers on one hand, five on the other with the same skin tone she was used to her whole life. Her hands looked just like always, with the same scars and the same weight and the skill.

But she herself, she felt different. Not her. Not like her.

Aoko felt – she couldn't quite say what she felt like, just that it wasn't her.

She had thought, for the longest time, that she was dead. And this was, well, this was probably just the world before she transferred to Heaven or Hell. This was just the loop. Just the transition. But then she realized, and Aoko couldn't quite pinpoint when or why, that this must still be the real world, as real as she knew her world to be, anyway.

The only one who had changed was her and not the world around her.

By god, she should be dead.

That was the only unchanged thing about her, the only constant thought in her mind. The scar over half her belly showed truth to that statement, the very voices of the many doctors also only confirmed what she herself was so sure of.

She should be dead.

They called it a miracle. They said that anyone with that much blood loss, with that big a whole in her stomach, anyone treated many minutes after it had happened – was dead. Undoubtedly dead. Irreversibly dead.

And yet, Aoko was still here, living, breathing, turning and watching her hands in front of her in the moonlit night.

They called her a miracle.

But Aoko – she couldn't agree with them. Because Aoko might know what they didn't know and that made all the difference.

And the only person who knew exactly what went down that night, was the person she was waiting for right now.

Because she'd been in a coma and though it was only for a day she was told, it was apparently enough to make her understand, to make her see things she hadn't seen before. Those incredibly conspicuous things explaining everything however unreal or impossible they looked.

She had remembered things she had repressed a long time ago, but things that were the most significant in order to be able to solve this puzzle.

But despite that, Aoko needed answers, a confirmation of any sort and someone to talk about these absurd ideas and theories. Because as clear as those things looked in her mind, Aoko wasn't sure it wasn't just a byproduct of her becoming mad due to her untimely death – or near-death.

"Kid."

There was no need to yell, to scream, to rage at the person who she believed did this all to her, who ran past her just like that, as if she hadn't been waiting for him forever to finally talk about this. Thankfully, her voice alone was enough to stop the tall magician dressed all in white.

"I want to talk." Immediate and direct. That, too, changed about her. A bit at least.

Aoko didn't think she had time anymore, though she supposed she might have more time on her hands than anybody else now.

The man turned around slowly, bowing slightly. "Good evening, Nakamori-san."

He seemed rigid, too rigid for this man known for his flashy entrances and grand shows and never ending courage. He seemed small now. Guilty.

"What would you like to talk about?"

Fidgety. Kid was fidgeting, chasing a coin through his fingers, again and again.

Aoko shrugged. "About everything, I guess."

She then looked to the side, to the edge of the rooftop and frowned. "Well, I could also just jump from the roof and see where it takes us but that's not really my style."

It was weird how heightened her senses felt, for, and maybe it was just the silence around them and the intimate darkness, she saw how he tensed at her insinuation. Pleaded guilty like a prosecutor the murderer.

"I think you owe me that much, Kid."

The man clad in white nodded stiffly and nodded towards the other side of the roof. "Want me to take you to some place we can talk in peace or would you rather we meet somewhere?"

Aoko would have preferred to just meet him in some manga café where no one would listen in on them and where she could just come and leave whenever she wanted but she feared Kid would not meet her if she let him go now. In irrational fear, probably, but she couldn't help it, not really, so she walked up to him with a sigh on her lips and took his hand, dragging him along to the edge of the roof. Her father was probably hot on his heels anyway, so they needed to leave now.

"Well then, take me wherever you feel comfortable enough to tell me the truth."

Besides, if she clung to him, so close she could trace every line on his face, rip of that monocle and hat, she might even find out who he was beyond that mask. Though Aoko wasn't too sure she wanted to open Pandora's box just yet because she had an inkling who this person was behind all the layers of masks upon masks and that would open a can full of worms.

Kid nodded, if for her or for himself, Aoko didn't know, but he scooped her up into his arms, bridal style, and before she could even blink or hold on tight onto him, they were already in a dead fall towards the ground. And Aoko thought she'd scream, her stomach doing flips and fear would rule her thoughts but instead she felt exhilaration. The way the wind blew through her face, her hair, her clothes, it felt good, she felt free for the first time in her life, definitely for the first time after her near-death experience, and Aoko wondered if it ever had to stop.

Of course, Kid didn't let them drop to their death, soon he spread his wings like the fallen angel he was, with the morose expression on his face as he was on his way to his own execution and maybe, in a way, he was, and they flew from Roppongi to Shibuya and Aoko had never seen anything more magnificent like the view before her.

Shibuya was a thousand lights, advertising all over the streets, the streets crowded with people even if it was already well into the night. The billboards wee screaming at them, music playing various songs, the casters discussing the newest productions or products available. On another corner the music for the latest Avengers movie was blasting full force, making absolutely everyone aware of the movie and what music was written for it.

It was breathtaking.

And before Aoko could think about it, they landed in a dark alley and had it been anyone else she was with, she might have been scared. But Kid was Kid and while he was an internationally wanted criminal, he might have saved her life – well, he might have robbed her of her own choice, he might have made a decision for her which she would have very well liked to make herself but he hadn't robbed her life, at least. In that respect, she trusted him.

"See that café over there?"

Kid pointed to the heavily lit building just outside the alley and she nodded.

"Let's meet inside in five minutes."

It was an irrational fear, Aoko knew that but her brain wasn't working like she was used to it and so, before she could even think about it, she grabbed the handcuffs she had prepared beforehand and cuffed herself to him. Of course, it earned her nothing but an incredulous look from the chained one but Aoko couldn't risk not getting the answers she needed.

"You do realize that I can get out of these within ten seconds, don't you?"

"Look, just do one of your changing tricks and change here, right in front of my eyes and then we can enter together."

Kid watched her a second longer, probably trying to understand if she'd lost her mind (she had) but Aoko didn't care. Finally, he sighed and nodded.

"Alright, Ojou-chan."

With that he lifted his cape and just a second later a man looking like Kaito stood in front of her. She wondered if it made him feel at ease or maybe he just didn't have enough time to change into a disguise?

Aoko didn't want to think about the insinuation just yet.

In that on second, Kid was able to get out of the handcuffs but since he was still there, Aoko didn't mind as much.

"People would look at us if they saw them," was his reasoning and of once Aoko agreed with him.

With that they left the alley and entered the bustling café, immediately looking for the furthest table for two where they could talk in as much peace as they could get in a district as lively as Shibuya was.

When they were seated comfortably, hidden by mangas of all sorts, Kid looked at her expectantly.

"Otou-san told me that Kaito had found me. He said that Kaito had found me alive. I can't quite... believe that." Lifting her shirt, she showed him her still very fresh scar on her stomach. "There is no way I could have survived something like this. So I doubt it was Kaito but rather someone who would pass as Kaito if the need arose."

Kid seemed fixated on her scar for as long as she showed him, only looking into her eyes when she let go of her shirt. "It was you, am I right? Tell me what you did. Why am I alive?"

She felt anger rage inside of her. She should be happy, she knew that, she was alive after all. But it wasn't her choice. And there was the part of her who was undoubtedly happy being alive, having gotten another chance, but then there was this other part, untrusting, doubting and waiting for the heavenly punishment, for the but. What was the price for her life? What did he do?

Kid seemed as stricken as she'd never seen him, torn and pained. He showed as many emotions as she'd ever watched him show and Aoko knew she hit the bull's eye.

"You were dead."

He sounded broken, so broken a person shouldn't be, by all means. He shouldn't sound like that. Not the infallible Kaitou Kid.

"You were dead, Aoko."

He looked at her, really looked at her, with eyes so blue like the ocean, once free and wild, now trapped in emotions, and all Aoko could see was her tormented best friend. Not Kaitou Kid.

He lay his head into his hands, and Aoko wondered if he was crying.

"There was so much blood, everywhere. You were bathed in it, Aoko. Of course, you weren't breathing anymore, of course you weren't. There was no way there'd be even one chance you might still be alive. Of course not."

Those were not the words of a detached, uncaring internationally wanted criminal her father had chased her whole life. No. They were so much more. Something, she actually didn't want to know but if knowing the truth entailed knowing the whole truth, then she'd take what she got.

"I couldn't lose you."

He whispered, it was so uttered so softly she wondered if she heard him right but when he didn't say anything afterwards, she figured he must have.

"What is Pandora, Kaito?"

So Kaito was Kid, huh?

She'd had the fear he was for the last month and it wasn't nearly as crushing as she'd imagined it to be when she found out the truth for real. Still, it wasn't the truth she was out for right now. Kaito being Kid was for another time to mull over. Now she had much more pressing matters to take care of.

The way Kaito raised his head, as if he'd just killed her best friend and her father made her want to vomit.

So maybe the voice in her head was right after all. The voice chanting Pandora Pandora Pandora, showing her pictures of a life unable to end, of the whole world that couldn't quite belong to this century.

"It saved you."

To Aoko he was nothing but grasping at straws.

"And what did it cost?"

He closed his eyes and deflated, took a breath and then looked at her again, straight into her eyes and she found him scared like a lost child, terrified of his next words and maybe her reaction but she needed to know. She couldn't stop now even if it hurt him.

"You were dead, Aoko."

He kept repeating it like a broken record as if it would salvage what he did, whatever it was he had done.

"Am I immortal now, Kaito?"

The boy in front of her let his head fall into his hands again, shaking it violently.

"You were dead, Aoko."

In the end, it was probably Kaito's fault they attacked her, his fault in making them believe she was Kid in his stead and then it was his fault for getting her in this situation.

And that was as much confirmation as she'd get.