Reluctant Hero
9: Aoko's confession
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Ow."
"Sorry." Aoko whispered back and squeezed her arm closely to the side of her chest in reflex.
It was dark, but the flashlight in Kid's hand briefly shone on his face as he moved again, showing a teasing grin. "You're forgiven. Let's continue."
Aoko scowled, but did like what Kid said (It was best to continue than wasting air in this tiny space when even breathing was difficult). She scooted her body forward, careful to keep to her side of her space and avoid chafing Kid's arm, which she had been doing for the past fifteen minutes since they began crawling through the air duct together.
They were somewhere between the fourth and the fifth floor of a secluded factory that mass produced date-rape drugs in the black market. They weren't here for fun (obviously), and nothing related to coincidence (finally). Aoko was here for a job, which was a case tasked by the officials, asking for her assistance in gathering some evidence of this illegal drug-making crime before busting it down with a warrant of arrest. It wasn't often for her to receive such a big responsibility, which meant she couldn't afford any failures too.
And hence, Aoko got Kid to help.
He was here to return the third favour.
But despite knowing the higher rate of completing her case right, there were many reasons that made Aoko contemplate against the idea of asking him (even though she still went ahead in the end).
One, if she was ever brought to court to explain the methods used to break this case, she wasn't sure if "asking Kaitou Kid" would be applicable.
Two, she felt like she owed Kid more after this, because using his help just to exchange for one favour seemed a bit of a scam for him.
Three, this was a perfect chance for him to boast it in her face, about how she needed his help and connection to pull this case through in the end.
But surprisingly, her third reason became an empty worry; he never once mocked her at all. Rather, he seemed equally interested when she was explaining the case to him earlier (his intense gaze on her was quite overwhelming sometimes).
For that seriousness she never knew he had it in him, she decided to silently thank him by not talking about his recent steal—Gentle Tears, and also because she had learnt a lot of things from him today.
It was an art of manipulation, Kid said, as he convinced two factory workers to quit their job on the spot as they were on their way to work—because that factory wasn't just awful for selling these despicable drugs but they mistreated their workers too. They agreed almost without hesitation to Kid's words, not before dumping their entry passes and uniform they brought along to change in the factory. Kid gathered them after they left and passed one set to Aoko.
It was an art of deception, Kid said, as he slipped inside the factory, with big smiles and laughter as he blended well with the rest of the factory workers and talked to them like they were long lost friends. Aoko could tell they were slightly puzzled, of course, because no one recognised Kid's disguise, but his demeanour was so convincing that everyone thought he was a regular, and without hesitation, they told him the owner's private office was located on the fifth floor.
So here they were, climbing through the air vent side by side as they made their way to the said office. And finally after chafing each other's arms and tangling with each other's legs, they finally reached.
"Okay. We're here." Kid muttered and switched off his flashlight. He peered through the gap of the ceiling vent above the office, watching a couple of heavy-build men standing around and guarding a man (who Aoko recognized was the owner of this damn factory) from who-knows-what; Maybe a guilty person had too much to fear.
Aoko felt the thumb drive in her pocket. She was so, so ready to bust the computer, which the owner was currently looking at on his desk, but… how? She did know a couple of Judo moves, but she had no idea how Kid's fighting skills was (he looked more skilled in dodging than fighting). What's more when the number of bodyguards was already a glaringly disadvantage to them.
She bit her lip, unsure of how to progress. "What are we-"
Before Aoko finish her sentence, Kid took out something from his back pocket. The thing was modelled like a tiny walkie talkie, but knowing Kid and his unusual props, she guessed this apparent walkie talkie wouldn't be simply what it seemed.
Without a hint or warning, Kid began twisting the tiny knobs on the walkie talkie, and in the next two seconds, fire alarms blasted throughout the factory, ringing so loudly even the air vent was vibrating from the sound.
The owner stood up from his desk. "What the hell is that?"
One guard raised his hand. "The fire alarm is activated, boss."
"I know that. It was a rhetorical question." The owner then pointed at all the guards. "Go check out what is happening and ensure the workers aren't messing around either."
"Yes boss."
Everyone scurried out, except for the owner himself, as he sat back on his seat and began looking through whatever was on his computer again.
From the corner of Aoko's eyes, she saw Kid smirked. He then turned towards her, his mouth open and about to say something, but she cut him off. "And is this the art of distraction?" She said with a roll of her eyes.
"Not bad. You're learning fast." Kid grinned, keeping the walkie talkie in his pocket.
She had missed the chance to ask what exactly that toy of his was, but it didn't matter anyway. "Just get us out of here already." She muttered.
"My pleasure."
As if Kid had done it a thousand times (which Aoko thought it might be true), he knocked the vent open with a swift hit from his elbow. The vent cover fell from the ceiling and smashed onto the floor, shocking the owner on his feet again.
"What the-" The owner widened his eyes as Aoko and Kid jumped down from above. "Who the fuck are you guys-?!"
Kid rolled up his sleeve, revealing the same watch she remembered him wearing during their previous car chase disaster. With a quick aim, he pressed both sides of his watch, and something small flew out, hitting the owner's neck. Aoko watched, in horror, as the owner's angry eyes rolled to the back of his head before his face hit the floor.
Aoko nearly shrieked. Nearly. "What the hell is that?!" She hissed.
"Is it a rhetorical question?" Kid said, but it wasn't him at the same time. He said it in the owner's voice, which agitated Aoko even more.
"I'm being serious!" Aoko scurried to the owner's side, eyes running over his motionless body as she shook his body. On the second shake, though, Kid grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.
"What are you doing?" He glowered.
"I-Is he dead?!" Aoko said, exasperated. "He seems dead! Oh my god, I asked you to help, not kill a person, even if he deserves it-"
"Relax." Kid rolled his eyes. "What I shot him was a tranquilliser dart. Just letting him taste his own medicine."
"A… tranquilliser dart? From a watch?"
"Yes. Never knew such an useful invention until someone taught me the hard way."
Aoko only managed a frown and a gaping mouth before Kid gestured his head to the computer. "Do your job. The fire alarm is off and I think the guards are going to come back. We only have five minutes till then.""
That warning instantly got Aoko scrambled for her work.
Kid fulfilled his unsaid role and trudged towards the door to keep a lookout. He would occasionally glance at Aoko, and she could feel his gaze too, until one moment when she sensed he was staring at her way longer than necessary. So she raised her head from the computer for a brief moment, wanting to ask what he wanted, to only find that he actually wasn't looking at her.
He was looking at the thumb drive.
"Isn't that the thumb drive I gave you?" He asked the moment she looked up.
Aoko blinked and then looked down for confirmation. Now that she noticed, she had indeed picked the thumb drive he gave her, out of the dozen random ones she had in her drawer.
Coincidence seemed like a word she had been saying to herself a lot since meeting Kid.
She cleared her throat, faking nonchalance towards this whole unimportant issue. "Is there a problem with that?"
"No." Kid smiled and turned back to check on the corridor. "Not at all." She heard him mutter the second time.
Treating as the past fifteen seconds didn't exist, Aoko continued working on the computer.
She found the files almost too easily, and the transferring was a breeze, but not everything was going to end up a happy ending. The tranquilliser effect must have started to wear off as the owner on the floor began to stir, and a faint chorus of footsteps could be heard coming from the stairways beside the office too.
Kid, of course, noticed all that. "Are you done?" He asked as he walked towards her with haste.
"Almost… and yes!" Aoko exclaimed, plugging out the thumb drive. She was still in the midst of her mini-celebratory for the job well done, until Kid suddenly pushed her shoulders.
"K, great." He said, still pushing her until they stood under the air vent that they just busted through. He then dragged a table over and pointed it to her. "Now get out of here."
Aoko frowned. She wasn't sure if it was her weird sense of intuition or the way Kid phrased his words… "You're coming with me too, right?"
"Of course not." He looked at her, almost perplexed about how she even came up with that thought. "We'll be caught at the other end if we crawl out together. Remember what I taught you? About the art of-"
"I'm not going to leave you behind as a distraction!" Aoko snapped. "That's against my-"
"Principle. Yes, yes." Kid grinned. "Don't you find it beautiful that we are completing each other sentences?"
"No. Back to what we're discussing, I'm not leaving you behind."
Kid placed a hand theatrically over his chest. "It's very touching of you to care about me—" Behind them, the owner made a groaning sound. "—but as you can hear and see, we don't have time to waste."
"I can't-"
"Do you trust me?"
Aoko blinked, her lips parted in mute shock. What that hell was that sudden, random question for? And wasn't the answer obvious enough the moment she contacted him for such an important case? If she didn't trust him, she would never have approached him, be it if he owed her favours or not…
He was still staring at her with that questionable gaze that she couldn't pull away from, most probably still waiting for her reply. But strangely, her throat got stuck and she couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, couldn't get to admit the truthful answer to Kid. Still, she thought her actions might speak louder than words—
"Likewise, I don't trust you too." Kid finally responded to her silence.
It seemed her actions weren't loud enough for him to see.
"Kid-" Aoko tried to explain, but he cut her off and nudged her up the table again.
"I don't trust your abilities, but I trust mine. Windows are my speciality." He jabbed a thumb at the huge glass window at the side of the wall. "You're just going to be a burden if you come with me."
"Wha-" Aoko growled. "Burden-?"
"Yes. Burden. So I need you to get out of here first. And if you're not going to climb up, I'm going to push you up. Don't blame me if I touch your butt."
"I will kill you."
"Yay." Kid rolled his eyes. "Hurry and go."
Aoko would love to stay and rebuke even further, but the heavy footsteps were getting louder till a point it was echoing in the room. Reluctantly, she climbed up the table and tiptoed, her fingers reaching out for the vent as she pulled herself up and crawled into the air duct.
She couldn't see anything besides the dark shadows inside, but she heard the table being pushed away below.
The owner groaned again.
More footsteps.
Louder, and louder—
"Boss-? Wait, who are you!"
The next thing Aoko heard was the glass shattering.
Then the sound of wind. Lots of paper fluttering.
"Get him! Get that bastard!"
The same heavy footsteps echoed, but faster.
After what seemed like a million years, there was only silence, and the occasional fluttering of wind and papers.
Everyone was gone.
"Hurry and go."
Letting out a breath, Aoko slowly navigated her way through the air duct based on memory.
Fifteen minutes of non-stop crawling later, Aoko made it out of the vent and into the empty pantry room. She slipped into a group of factory workers that was coincidentally passing by, and from groups to groups, she pretended to blend in with them until she was near the exit door and dashed out without anyone noticing.
The guards weren't anywhere to be found.
So was Kid.
And the owner.
Aoko bit her lips.
Kid might not have trusted her, but she trusted him; on his words and abilities that he would get out of here safely too.
Or maybe he already did.
Yeah. Maybe.
With that faith in mind, she prioritised her mission and decided to head straight to the Police headquarters with the evidence in hand, but not after dumping her factory uniform and changing back into her clothes, which Kid suggested to hide them in the bush behind the factory.
She found her clothes in the bushes, as well as Kid's.
Aoko briefly caressed his shirt in her hand.
Maybe he hadn't got out yet. But he would, eventually.
Yeah. He would.
Focus. Focus.
She stowed his clothes back into the hiding spot, got changed into her own, and continued on finishing her goal.
.o.
Switching off her TV, Aoko trudged back to her bedroom and stifled a yawn. She was beyond tired and her back was aching (probably from all the crawling) since the entire day. It was a wonder how she actually sat through the news as the reporter was rambling the things she already knew, but thinking back about the short clip when the owner's head was shoved into the police car, staying up was worth it.
Aoko fell onto her bed and spread herself out like a starfish. She blankly stared at her white ceiling, but imageries of a similar one came to her mind; with a vent, large table by her side, and Kid urging her to climb out and get away first.
Honestly, she had been thinking about it the entire time since she fled from the factory, during the journey to the headquarters, the time back home, the moments through her dinner and even while she bathed. It had always been on her mind, but only in this quiet space where she was sure no one but the silence could be the only witness, she dared to say it aloud:
"I wonder how he is…" Aoko bit her lower lip. "And if he's okay…"
There. Finally. She had said it and got it off her chest, but it didn't seem to make her feel any better.
Nothing was better.
Aoko's hand twitched, reminding her of the thing that tied her connection with Kid. She rolled herself to the end of her bed and pulled out the drawer of her bedside table, where she securely kept her flip phone inside everyday.
Although she couldn't find an answer, an idea did come to mind.
Just for the thrill.
She flipped the phone open, created a new message, and began typing:
'I hope you're okay.'
And pressed send.
As she laid back on her bed, eyes bored and staring at the phone screen, she was expecting the failed text message coming in by the next heartbeat. But when one second passed, two second passed… and a full good two minutes had passed, Aoko straightened herself up, eyes growing wider and wider as the phone was still silent in her hand.
Where is the error message?
Before she flung herself up from her bed in anxiety, the phone vibrated in her grip, shocking yet sending relief to her at the same time. Ah. There it was. It must be because it was an old phone and the error message arrived late-
Aoko's smile faded as fast as it came when she spotted the sender of the text.
It wasn't the expected failed message.
It was a text message from Kid.
Aoko shrieked and flung the phone away, but it bounced off her pillow and rolled back to her side, which made her shriek again as she jumped up to her feet and ran to her desk. She took a whole minute to calm herself down, but after she took a glimpse at the THING on her bed, her heart began beating like a galloping horse running for its dear life.
Ok. OK. Aoko heaved out a breath. Maybe—just maybe—Kid didn't receive anything at all. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he sent her a text now, and maybe it was something unrelated to her I hope you're okay text because… because it just got to be. If not, Aoko might have to forsake her beloved house, great job, nice car and the two favours he still owed her and move to another country, never seeing him again-
That last thought, strangely, was paired with a twist in her gut.
Right on the cue, the flip phone vibrated again.
Aoko whipped her neck so fast it nearly snapped.
Yes. YES. Maybe now, the error message finally came in. Ah ha. All that anxiety for nothing. That sinking feeling in her stomach was gone, replaced with a mix relief and excitement that made her legs skip over to her bed. She flipped the phone open with more courage she expected and checked her inbox.
The smile on her face didn't last long.
She couldn't find any error message anywhere. Instead, what she found were two, unread messages from the one and only Kaitou Kid.
Aoko's loud shriek had already died in her throat, just like the soul in her body too.
This was just as bad as the moment before opening her email to her university application results. No. It was just as bad as receiving a reply after confessing her feelings to her non-existent first love. That seemed like the most ridiculous reference, but the most relatable one.
Almost.
Better to just get it over and done with.
After a few deep breathing exercises, Aoko braced herself and opened the message.
'Thanks for the concern lol I'm okay. i'm not dead yet.'
She barely managed to keep her cool, but still was able to open the next message without bursting a blood vessel.
'In case u r wondering, I've lifted the text ban. Should have told u about it but I guess in life u got to learn things the hard way lmao. K. nite.'
"Ugh, this-!" Aoko growled. She clutched the phone so tight her knuckles turned white, and was tempted to throw the flip phone out of the window too. But that burst of energy vanished in an instant when she remembered how this was the only way for her to contact Kid (And speaking of which, the mere thought of seeing him again caused her insides to heat up; It was between the feeling of rage and embarrassment, but the latter might take up a greater percentage).
"This idiot." Was the only thing she managed to say.
But… at least now she got her answer. The best answer, in fact.
And that was what mattered the most.
Aoko glanced down at the phone again.
Manipulations, deceptions, or the art of distractions… whatever those skills were used for, be it the good or bad, Aoko might not play it as well as Kid. But after he made her go through this painful ordeal of worry, stupid embarrassment and all sorts of other emotions she never knew she had it in her until Kid existed in her life, the least Aoko could do now was to win the game of having the last word in
She replied:
'You're an idiot.'
And send.
With that done, Aoko stuffed the flip phone under the pillow and switched off her bedside lamp. The room fell into darkness, and she closed her eyes, trying to relax her mind and think of nothing to sleep.
But as the time passed, nothing became anticipation, and anticipation became expectations; to hear a buzz and her pillow to vibrate under her head. That moment never came, though, so for the rest of the night, she continued to keep her eyes shut until she eventually slept for real (Because if she opened them, she'd be admitting to the darkness that she had been waiting all these while).