Reluctant hero

11. Aoko's counter offer

Aoko didn't know much about thieving and breaking into people's property, but at least she was sure a thief wouldn't be dumb to steal the same thing twice, unless there was a damn, good reason behind it.

Likewise, she didn't know much about disguises and how to create them to as perfect as any normal human's skin, but at least she was sure a master of disguise wouldn't use the same disguise twice, unless there was a damn, good reason behind it.

But Kaitou Kid did both of them.

Just last week (a few days after the drug factory owner was sentenced to jail), Kid stolen the two Van Gogh paintings that he returned before (and it also happened to be a few days after the exhibition too). The media boomed thanks to the outrage of the owner and his proclamation that he would find and obliterate the thief, but of course, that claim was as empty as air.

Having two favours left, Aoko also had the opportunities to ask why Kid did what he did. She wasn't that particular to why he stolen them in the first and second place, but it wasn't hard to piece the logic together to figure out why he returned them in between. And knowing the possibilities of those answers, she became a little scared to ask (She wasn't sure if she could take that truth without suffering from the overwhelming embarrassments or emotions that only Kid could make her feel).

So, Aoko decided to pretend she never saw that news and moved on. Besides, she had other questions in mind anyway—

Aoko glanced towards Kid by her side.

—Like how he was using the same disguise as the one in the restaurant when they met.

Kid tapped his fingers against the bar counter. "So you're saying Ito Hisao was here three days ago?"

The young owner of the club, Dai, scrunched up his nose and flicked his cigarette ashes to the floor. "Yeah, that's exactly what I said."

"That's weird. People said he was in Shanghai." Kid continued.

"Who?"

"A source of mine."

"So what? What does this got to do with you?"

"Don't you think everything about this is contradictory?" Kid wondered aloud, hand stroking his chin. "You know? About that recent murder case?"

Dai casted him a pointed look. "Do you have the time to care for that? Shouldn't you be busy about-"

"Yeah yeah I know." Kid quickly waved a hand. "But this is a murder case. A big thing."

"That's unlike you, Kid." Dai quirked an eyebrow. "You never gave a shit for the other hundred murders cases that happened before."

"Give me a break and let me be me."

"Let you be you? More like what's gotten into you lately." Dai scorned. He leaned forward and pointed his cigarette at Aoko. "You're never once keen in my girls too, and now you brought one with you?"

Aoko hastily glanced down to the counter, nervously watching the condensation on Kid's beer glass trickling down to the bottom.

Her role—as demanded by Kid because she insisted to follow him this time rather than sitting out and letting him do the job—was basically a prostitute he picked up on the street. She thought his outrageous request was to change her mind, so she forced herself and agreed to it, to prove that she would do what it takes to finish her job.

Dressed in a pair of black high heels, torn-up stockings and the shortest, spaghetti-strap black dress Aoko ever worn (which Kid brought her to a thrift shop in Kabukicho to buy), they began their bar-hopping the entire night, digging out the flaws in Ito Hisao's alibi statement. There were times when the people or club owners were too busy to give Aoko a glance, but when they noticed her, like how Dai did when they first entered his club, Kid would make sure to let them know she was taken;

So that no one was allowed to touch her.

And surprisingly, everyone showed Kid that respect he indirectly asked for.

In Kid's fashion of showing how she was taken, Aoko sat on his lap as he conversed with Dai like everything was perfectly normal. She was sort of used to it, since out of ten clubs they'd been, this was the fourth time she did. But unlike the last club, she wasn't able to relax well and put most of her weight on Kid's leg (not like he wasn't able to take it).

This club, by far, was Aoko's most uncomfortable place.

Judging from the many things here; like the very dim lights and weirdly soft music, Aoko guessed this club was meant more for business transactions rather than partying. The customers all wore a heavier and serious expression, often with suitcases in their hands and plenty of bodyguards by their side. The girls were in their equally skimpy clothes, but they were often asked to go out of the room during certain occasions. Probably during the sensitive information of the trade.

Could it be about drugs? Guns? Or bombs? Aoko wondered how many lives could be saved if she stopped any one of the transactions in the rooms.

Kid leaned against the bar counter, covering some parts of Aoko from Dai's view. "You never said we couldn't bring in our own girls before."

"You're right. I never. Because I'm confident that no one can beat my club's standards. Until this one." Dai pressed his cigarette butt into the table. "Kid. How much do you offer?"

"No deal."

Aoko dared herself to glance up, just to check if the strong wariness she heard in Kid's tone was her imagination.

The cold look in his blue eyes told her it wasn't.

"Of course," Dai smirked and stood up from his seat. "Seeing such a jewel, even Kaitou Kid wouldn't sell."

"C'mon Dai," Kid said, his voice suddenly chirpy and upbeat. "Are you offended?"

"Never by you. But you said you only have one question, and I've answered it. I'm done."

Dai didn't wait for Kid's attempt to stall time and left.

After Kid watched Dai go, he sighed and turned back to the counter to sip onto his beer. "This is all we've got."

"It's already good enough anyway." Aoko said (and she would convince herself later that she wasn't comforting him but was stating it as a matter of factly). "We have plenty of evidences to prove that we're on the right track and Ito Hisao is still the most suspicious guy for this case."

"If you're satisfied with the result, then it's fine by me."

Aoko pursed her lips and stared at the side of Kid's face as he took another sip of his beer.

Now that it's the end... To thank him or not...?

Kid suddenly turned towards Aoko in the midst of her contemplation, catching her off guard.

"What?" She leaned back and managed to say without a stutter.

He quirked an eyebrow. "You've been staring a lot. Especially when I'm wearing this face."

"No I didn't."

Kid smirked. "Yes you did."

"Ok. I got to admit I'm puzzled about some things." Aoko bit her lips, forcing herself to continue what she started. "Isn't this... the same disguise as the one in the restaurant?"

"And what about it?"

"Why would you wear the same disguise?" What's more when it looked exactly the same; The black messy hair, the eyes... Aoko pondered. No imperfections at all.

Kid stroked his chin with a hint of a smile on his lips (and she believed he was teasingly trying to prolong whatever suspense was in the air). "What if..." He began slowly. "What if I tell you this is my real face?"

Aoko gaped. "Wh-What? This is your real face?"

"Yeah."

"Are you serious?" She was still struggling for a moment to speak, unable to grasp the reality.

"Can't believe I'm so handsome?"

Aoko opened her mouth. She would rather die than saying Yes, but her throat couldn't make out the word No either. Ended up, the silence was dragged for one second too long, and she quickly covered her mistake with a loud cough.

"I can't... believe you'll ever reveal your face to me." And how I even thought it fitted you the best.

"If I'm not using my face, how am I supposed to ask for information?" Kid shook his head at her. "They only talked to me because they know I'm Kaitou Kid. Not someone wearing a face of a random office worker from XYZ company."

"But still-"

"Hey, hey." Kid raised a hand. "You don't have to feel conflicted because you think you're special or something. Shinichi knows my face too."

Aoko blinked. "Sh-Shinichi?"

"Yes."

"So... that's how the favours came about? Because he saw your face and you begged him not to send you to jail?"

Kid gritted his teeth. "No."

"Huh. Sounds fake."

He glared at her sideways. "It's not."

"Fine. Then I supposed it's my responsibility now."

Kid's frown disappeared and a smile spread across his face like spilt honey, sweet and slow (and a little mesmerising to watch). "Oh? You're going to send me to jail? Just because you know my face?"

"Yes." She bared her teeth, not liking the mockery in his voice.

"Can't wait for that day."

"It'll be soon. After you repay all your favours."

He chuckled. "Right, right."

Then, at the same time when Kid reached out for his beer, Aoko wanted to play with the condensation on the glass, just because. Their fingers brushed against each other, and like a shock of electricity, Aoko retracted her hand faster than Kid did. She looked at him, which he looked back at her, and they looked and looked and looked at each other for an unnecessarily long moment before Aoko realized, to her absolute terror, that she was still sitting on Kid's lap and that their body and face was barely apart-

Aoko shifted on his leg, trying to get up. "Um, okay, anyway, I guess we can call it a day."

"Uh yeah." Kid agreed, finally looked away while rubbing the back of his neck, until he saw something behind Aoko's shoulder and widened his eyes.

"Shit." He hissed, his tone so icy that it made Aoko flinch. He grabbed her arm, sending her to another level of surprise as she slumped back onto his lap. She yelped.

"What?"

"Stay still for a minute more and don't turn around-"

It was too late. Aoko already turned her head.

And it wasn't something she expected.

There, just by the entrance, was a man in a trench coat and hat. He easily looked like any drug dealer on the street, but Aoko knew him more than that, after seeing his signature moustache and angry eyes that could set the alcohol around them to flame.

Snake—his only known alias—was one of the most notorious leader of an infamous triad. She heard many things about him, be it from the night news, the mouth of her few terrified clients, officials, and even part of Shinichi's rare complaints. But here he was, standing in the flesh and out in the open when all she had seen of him were blurred images from the other side of her electronics.

Kid pulled her shoulder to turn back, but it was too late, again.

Snake was looking at their direction.

And for a moment, Aoko thought their eyes met.

She gasped, while trying to ignore the shiver that went down her spine. "Isn't that Snake?"

Kid sighed. "Oh great. He saw us."

"You know him?"

"When he comes over, act like you're mute."

"How do you know him?"

"Stop talking."

"I asked how do you-"

"If you say another word, I'm going to kiss you."

The amount of certainty laced in his voice was so frightening that Aoko instantly shut up.

"Good. Keep that warning in mind." Kid said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest. She wanted to ask what the hell he was up to, but she feared for her lips.

And Snake was already beside them too.

"I see that you're..." Snake narrowed his eyes. "Busy."

Kid smiled, but there was something strange in the tug of his lips. "Yes." He said.

"Where's she from?"

"What?"

"Who's her pimp?"

Aoko choked, and for a moment she thought Kid was going to pull her in for a kiss for breaking the rule, but he didn't; He was too busy staring at Snake, almost as if he forgotten all about her. The only proof to know it wasn't the case was his grip over her waist. Strong and firm.

Almost protective.

"There's no pimp. She was on the road."

"Hm." Snake gave Aoko a last brief look before he returned to stare down at Kid. "Be careful of what you pick up. I don't want you dying from some disease before I kill you."

Aoko managed to force down the snarl from escaping her lips.

"K." Kid said and nudged Aoko off his lap. He stood up too, his height almost the same as Snake's. "If there's nothing else, we're leaving."

Snake didn't say anything as Kid dragged Aoko out of the club by the arm.

They travelled by Aoko's car, but no one would suspect a thing since it was technically Kid's car too; blue baby. He had parked it at the far end of the car park, and during their entire walk to the lot, his grip was still the same and strong around her arm.

"Kid-"

"We'll talk in the car." Was his response.

She wanted to tell him he was going to leave a bruise on her skin if he continued holding her like that, but sensing the unusual tension in Kid's voice, Aoko decided against it. Getting out of here seemed more like his priority now.

They got into the car (Kid did glance around the empty parking lot a couple of times before he did), and started the engine. His calm facade really could have tricked Aoko to think that everything was alright, but she could tell, deep in her gut, that it wasn't. Nothing could be alright after coming in contact with Snake too, of course.

Kid drove out.

"Where are we going?" Aoko asked, breaking the silence.

"I'll send you home."

"I want to go back to the office for a while."

"Ok." Kid said.

Silence fell again, which was strange, because lately meeting with Kid, there was rarely any silence between them. He would always say something stupid and she would always retort back. And then the cycles would repeat forever. Unless they were talking about the serious stuff, their moments were usually filled with squabbles, Kid's chuckles and Aoko's snarl.

Now there was nothing, except for Kid's solemn face and Aoko's anxiety stirring in her stomach. She tried to gather the courage in her to speak, but something in her faltered and she gave up, turning to stare at the lights and building passing them by instead-

"Oh, fantastic." Kid suddenly said, in a way that Aoko knew it was definitely not fantastic. He was looking at the rear mirror.

"What?" Aoko was about to turn her head, but Kid was faster this time. He pushed her face so she was forced to look at the front again.

"Seriously, I can't imagine how you became a private investigator with your level of discreetness."

"Excuse me?" Aoko scowled. She was prepared for a full rant of her hard work but went against the idea in her head because that was just going to waste her breath. So, discreetly, she looked into the wing mirror instead.

A suspicious-looking black car was behind them.

Aoko frowned. "Who are they?"

There was a pause before Kid spoke. "Snake's men."

Now, this was the fantastic opportunity for Aoko to get the ball rolling when she didn't even dare to touch it a while ago. "Speaking of which, you didn't answer my questions. How do you know Snake? What exactly is your relationship with him?" Aoko asked, her eyes surveying him with increased scrutiny. "Why would he send his people to follow us?"

Again, Kid paused. "Got to keep his boys busy or he'll just be paying them to stand around like idiots."

"That's stupid."

"Yes. I know."

"I'm referring to your lie. It's stupid. Don't take me for a three year old."

Kid looked briefly annoyed. When he opened his mouth next, Aoko was expecting him to come up with another stupid remark because he was so good at giving them, but he swallowed whatever he had in his throat and said, instead, with a resigned tone. "The reason is none of your business."

"It is if I'm working with you. You still owe me a favour."

"Or you can write it off if you're scared of him." He muttered under his breath, but Aoko heard it loud and clear.

"I'm not scared of Snake." Aoko cleared her throat, hoping that would make her sound as confident as she wished to be. "I just don't want to have any connection with him. Including people who works with him."

"Because?"

"Because he's bad."

"Bad." Kid let out a laugh. "Aren't I too?"

"You are. But you're not like him."

"Oh? So there are differences between bad people?"

"Yes. I wouldn't put someone who steals with someone who murders." Aoko tugged onto her seatbelt, suddenly unsure where this conversation was going, but she continued. "Unlike Snake, you don't kidnap people, you don't set buildings on fire, and you don't kill anyone. "

"How do you know if I haven't done those things you said?"

Aoko stared at the side of his face. He didn't even bat a single eyelid. "Then did you?" She asked quietly.

Kid tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "What do you think?"

As much as it sounded like a joke, it never occur to Aoko that Kid could have self-esteem issues. But there was nothing else Aoko could think of to fit the thought of why he sounded as if he was particularly concern about what she thought of him. Did she ever matter anyway? Wasn't she just an annoying woman he owed some favours to?

"If I think you did, would I agree to sit in the car with you?" She answered, her tone levelled.

"I don't know. Maybe you've changed your mind during the journey or something."

"It takes a lot to change my mind." Aoko flicked a gaze towards him. "But what I know now is that you're trying to change the subject.

Kid smirked. "Well, it's worth a try."

"And you failed." Aoko spat. "So, answer my question: What's your relationship with Snake?"

"I don't have a relationship with him." Kid said, while adding an unnecessary wink. "For the record, I'm straight."

Aoko pinched his arm.

"Hey, I'm driving!"

She raised her hand again, slowly.

"Don't." Kid said warningly.

"Tell me." Aoko raised both of her hands.

"No."

"Yes."

"Fine, fine." He squirmed in his seat, his eyes barely focused on the road. "There's once when I'd stolen something Snake was after and he was pissed. So sometimes he'll send his underlings to stalk me, intentionally reminding me not to step on his foot again."

Aoko put down her hand and narrowed her eyes, trying to detect the lie from his tone or story, which she couldn't for either. Judging from Kid's character, what he said might not be the whole truth, but at least, this sounded much more believable that the first crappy excuse he made up. She wondered if she should push further for a more detailed answer, but she decided against it.

This was already more than enough of a comfort that he was just a skilful, uncatchable thief. Not a kidnapper. Not an arsonist. Not a murderer.

Not the worst of mankind.

Aoko sank back in her seat. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"I believe you."

Kid returned his gaze to the road in silence.

A bright light flashed past her car window and Aoko looked at the wing mirror. If it wasn't her imagination, the car seemed closer to Kid's now.

"Why aren't you shaking them off?" She remarked.

"They'll get suspicious of me if I try."

Aoko sighed. "I'm not interested to be involved in this."

"This is what you've signed up for." Kid drawled. "You want favours from a criminal? You'll have to bear the insurance and risks."

Of course she knew that, but whatever fear or worry of the risks couldn't be to the golden opportunity to the free access of Kid's useful resources, connection and expertise. Deciding to ignore him since she had no better idea on what to say, Aoko sighed. "Whatever. Just send me to my office."

"No. Change of plans." Kid said. "It's too dangerous."

"I don't see how being in the car with you is any safer."

"Trust me. Right now, you're in the safest spot in the world."

"Then what now?" Aoko scowled. "You can't be driving around aimlessly the entire night!"

"We're not. We're going to the motel instead."

Aoko choked and coughed several times. After a good ten seconds, Kid was kind enough to ask if she was okay, and if she needed any form of CPR because he would be glad to give her one if she needed it.

She shot him a dark look. "Tell me it's a joke before I pinch you again."

"It's not a joke. It is my plan."

"Care to explain?"

And so he did.

Indeed, after hearing Kid out, Aoko realized going to a motel was a good idea because, first, she wouldn't have to spend another minute with Kid in the car, second, she wouldn't expose the privacy of her office's location to Snake's men, and third, that would keep up with their fake relationship Kid claimed they had in the club. She originally thought the second reason was more important than the rest, but after having to endure another three minutes of Kid forcing her to admit he was brilliant and amazing for thinking up this plan, she only had the first reason in mind.

Five minutes later, Kid drove it into a shabby-looking motel's carpark. The car behind them followed, and it was so obvious that Aoko was tempted to knock on their car window and teach them some good stalking tactics (even if her own skills weren't hundred percent perfect).

Kid parked the car in a random lot and shut off the engine.

"Hey."

"What?"

"At least pretend you're excited about this." Kid said before getting off the car.

Aoko blinked when he slammed the door close. Excited? What kind of excitement? Exaggerating giggles? Seductive glances? She already had enough for wearing such an outrageous attire the entire night, and now she had to do the act of excitement? Shaking her head, Aoko hastily unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the car door, but Kid beat her to it and opened it for her.

"Ready?" Kid asked.

"Very." Aoko smiled bitterly.

She was totally not ready for exaggerating giggles nor seductive glances, but Kid helped her a little with the convincing, by putting an arm around her shoulder and whispered to her to put hers around his waist after she got out of the car.

The act worked, Aoko guessed, but it was still ridiculous nonetheless.

(And ridiculously, he still smelt great even after such a long night out)

They walked into the motel with quick but in-sync steps.

"Two rooms, please." Kid said the moment they reached the small reception counter.

"Sorry." The staff said, though she didn't sound as apologetic as she picked a dirt under her nail. "We only have one room left. Today's a hot night."

Hot night? Aoko flushed. On the other hand, Kid wasn't reacting much.

"How many beds for the room?" He asked.

The staff stared at him, as if he just asked if earth was round. "One."

"We'll take it."

They silently departed to the lift after taking the key because there were eyes all over in the lobby. They silently stood in the lift, arms still closed around each other, because they was a security camera hanging above. They silently walked down the corridor, the key dangling in Kid's hand, because the walls have ears.

Only after they entered their room, closed their door, and walked inside to find the tiny small bed that the counter staff said, then did Aoko's inner turmoil made it out.

"Why did you agree to the ONE bed?" Aoko growled.

Kid tossed his jacket onto the bed and trudged towards curtains. "Do we have a choice?" He drawled.

Aoko rubbed her temple, feeling a headache coming in. "We do. We could have went to another motel and find one with two beds available. OR we could just sit around at the lobby-"

"Not when they are watching." He muttered by the window.

Aoko frowned. "Wait. They are still here?" She approached the curtains too.

Kid grabbed her wrist. "Geez. Discreet, girl. Discreet." He rolled his eyes. "You need a lesson or two on it, really."

"I know what I'm doing." Aoko snarled and pulled away from his grasp. She discreetly peeked through the gap and out of the window.

At the bottom of the building—a few lots away from blue baby—was the same black car. The headlights were off, but from here, Aoko could make out movements in the car.

She clicked her tongue in disbelief. "Why are they still here?"

Kid shrugged.

Aoko narrowed her eyes at him. "What exactly have you stolen to make Snake run after your tail so closely? I thought they'd at least be gone by now."

He shrugged again. "I guess they are persistent and dedicated to their job."

"So, how long do you think they will be dedicated to their job?"

"I don't know. But we might as well just spend the night here. The room is already paid anyway."

"There's only one bed." Aoko reminded.

"I know. But we can split."

"Split?"

"Yes. Aren't I a genius?" Kid slumped onto the right side of the bed and tugged onto the blanket. "Last one in bed should switch off the lights."

Forget about peeing or even brushing her teeth; That sentence had sent every nerve in Aoko's body to panic. She dived right into the bed and wrapped the blanket over her body, covering every inch of her skin that had enough of being exposed tonight.

"You can switch it off if you want." She spat.

Kid stared at her. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark."

Aoko managed to keep her wince under her breath. Kid wasn't right, but he wasn't entirely wrong either. Monsters and magic were things that only existed in fairytales and fiction, but she believed they wouldn't be created without some basis of it. Like Santa Claus and Witches in the woods, Aoko thought there were monsters who sleep under beds too.

That was why she kept her bedside table lamp on until she was completely in bed. But hey, that wasn't something she needed Kid to know.

"I'm not scared." She cleared her throat. "I'm just too comfortable here."

Aoko wasn't looking at him, but she could imagine Kid rolling his eyes. He grabbed his jacket from the corner of the bed and pulled out a bunch of receipts from the pocket. She glanced at him, curious, as she watched him crushed them into a tight paper ball.

With a quick aim, he flicked his craft to the switch, and the moment he slumped back on the bed and dumped his jacket on the floor, the lights went out.

Aoko blinked in the darkness. "Wow-"

"Goodnight."

Silence ensued.

"..."

"..."

Slowly turning away from the ceilings, Aoko glimpsed at the figure beside her. After everything, she still hadn't forgotten the thanks that was still dangling at the tip of her tougue, but what could she do? She had definitely missed the opportunity to say it.

Coincidences and missed opportunities... these were all Aoko's daily necessities in life-

"You know," Kid spoke, his whispers suddenly filling the room like a bunch of floating petals and clouds (How could a voice possibly feel so soft?) "I can see that you're doing a lot of staring today, especially after knowing that this is my real face."

Aoko's heart squeezed in terror, but she swallowed the squeak from coming out and quickly replied. "Ho-How do you see if your eyes are closed?"

His lips twitched into a smirk, his eyes were still shut. "And how do you know I'm closing my eyes?"

Crap. "You made me look at it." Aoko spat before shifting her position to face the wall on her side, the bed squeaked under her as she did.

"Hm." She heard him say, and then a second later, the bed squeaked again; this time it was Kid who was shifting. Aoko glanced over her shoulder, curious to what he was doing.

Kid was now lying on his side, his full face and two bright, blue eyes looking at her.

"How's this? Is this a better angle for you to stare?"

Aoko flushed. "No."

"Aw." Kid smirk grew bigger. "Are you blushing?"

"I'm not." Aoko muttered, hoping that he couldn't see and hear her voice to tell anything from it. But even if he did, Aoko wouldn't know; his one and only annoying response was the smile that remained plastered on his stupid face. And what added on to her annoyance was that he was still in the same position, showing no signs to move.

Aoko frowned. "Can you turn away?"

"Why?"

"I don't like that you're staring at my back."

"Hmm, but I'm just too comfortable here."

He's totally quoting what I've said just now.

Taking in a deep breath, Aoko turned, her body now facing his too. She then copied that same, idiotic smile he had on his face. "Fine. Let's stare at each other to death then."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Two minutes passed and their staring contest didn't last long, though; Aoko lost. But she wasn't going to start the topic of that senseless competition. Thanking him had been a missed opportunity, and it still was, but she had many other things she wanted to say to him on mind. Something that had been nudging her for quite a while. To be exact, it might have started since the day they met at the cinema and Kid passed her the thumb drive to the case she almost couldn't fulfil.

"Why are you like this?" Aoko spoke.

Kid raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"So… pretending."

He raised his eyebrow further. "Because I put on disguises?"

"No." Aoko said, while being fully aware that she was staring right at his true face and not his disguise. The irony. "Let me phrase my question: Why do you pretend to be a bad guy?"

Kid blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You're doing good things."

"…You meant helping you in those cases that you're involved in? Hey. Remember? I'm just returning back the favours. There's nothing more to it."

"You could have rejected me."

"Why would I if I can hurry up and clear the debt?"

Aoko twitched her nose. Gut feeling or not, Kid was replying her questions at a rapid speed of light, almost as though he had the script in his hand all the time. "Don't you have your own principles?"

"You sounded so noble when saying it. What's yours?"

She puffed out her chest. "I will only do the right thing."

"So you're saying that good people can only do right things while bad people can only do wrong things?" Kid scorned.

"Isn't that so?"

"The world isn't just black and white, you know. There's grey. There's pink. And there's orange. And also-"

"Are you saying you're the grey one?"

"I'm just who I am."

That answer sounded lacking, but Aoko continued. "Then, whoever you are, whatever colour you want to be, how about considering working with me?"

Kid blinked.

Somewhere along the corridor outside their room came a loud giggle, muffled by their walls and door.

Then it grew quiet still again.

Except for the soft hum from the air condition.

"What…?" Kid said, breaking the momentum with his harsh whisper.

Aoko expected his first reaction was to laugh at her, not sounding so shock and surprised like he was just told that pigs could fly. Then again, the possibility of her saying what she said had been close to a zero afterall, at least in Kid's eyes.

He thought she didn't trust him.

"Well," Aoko hesitated. She shifted her legs closer to her body, toes curling in nervously. "The pay would never be amounted to anything that you'd stolen, but it's… still negotiable."

Now, then Kid laughed, the bed vibrated under his movements (It might be Aoko's imagination as the cold room actually turned warmer because of the echos of his chuckles). "That was originally my offer, no?"

Aoko widened her eyes, remembering the first note Kid left in her mailbox with the keys to baby blue. "This is… my counter offer." She finally found the sense to reply.

His laughter had long died away. "Are you serious?"

"I'm serious."

There was a long pause coming from Kid's side, until Aoko realised he was actually staring intently at her the entire time.

She squirmed under his gaze.

He looked away.

"I'll have to think about it." Was all he said as he turned to the other side of the bed.

She stared at his back, mouth gaping open until her voice finally came out. "Um, okay. I'm just, well, randomly asking. You don't have to-"

"I know." He said into the empty space. "But I'll still think about it. K. Goodnight."

Definitely goodnight.

Aoko turned away too, mentally chiding herself from making any more unnecessary movements or sounds. She felt her cheeks turning strangely hot. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she feeling as though she had just confessed-

Wait, what?

UGH. Aoko groaned in her head. Saying all those things…

She shut her eyes, forcing herself to sleep. And even if she couldn't, she didn't dare to open her eyes. Not now. Not at least daylight came. Not until when her words and his answer stopped echoing in her head

Like an ostrich, this was the only mechanism she knew how to do to hide away.

.o.

Aoko woke up to a lit room (the thin thickness of the curtains didn't help to cover the sunlight), and found herself hugging a pillow that must have belonged to Kid since hers was still intact under her head. Shock and embarrassment surged within her as she flung herself upright, thinking of the worse possible scenario for the reason of having the pillow in her arm, but a newfound wave of emotions flooded her when she turned and found the spot next to her on the bed empty with no signs of Kid anywhere.

(For a moment she wondered if it was disappointment, but she reasoned to herself that it couldn't be, and that it had to be relief)

Forcing herself out of the bed, Aoko checked the bathroom (not without shouting at the door three times and saying that she was going to come in). It was empty as well. She then checked the window to see if Snake's men were still there. They weren't anymore, but she found something else.

A note was stuck on the window, and she plucked it to read.

'Good morning (or afternoon? I've already paid for the night, but if you overslept, the extra charges are your responsibilities)

As you can see, the coast is clear and you can go back to your white world of justice. Just a reminder that you shouldn't go back to any of the clubs we'd visited, at least not without me, even if it was for the purpose of whatever scandalous, stupid cases you take up. You don't belong there.

Bye.'

Scoffing, Aoko half-crushed the note, but on second thought, she peeled it open again, smoothing the paper creases as much as she could before stuffing it into her purse.

She might need something to remind her that everything wasn't a dream.