Chapter One

"BAKAITO!"

Kaito is the one that annoyed her, in a way that made her love him.

"Come on, Aoko. It's just panties!"

"What do you mean 'just panties'?!" she screeched. Even though after years of this routine she wasn't quite mad when he did it, it was just funny. It was always funny, anything Kaito did, whether it was shooting a fish or jumping out the window or acting perverted. It was all part of her childhood friend that she loved.

Routine. No matter how many times. It entertained her, despite being the same every time. She bonked her friend on the head with the wooden handle of the mop that she now always kept on hand. "What was that for?" he cried indignantly.

"Oh, I don't know, I guess Mop-chan hates you."

Kaitou Kid sends out a new heist note! the billboard read in bright, flashing font. Aoko sighed. Here we go again, she thought. The next wedge of the cycle. She used to have high hopes for her father's ability to catch the elusive thief. But time has worn her down like a faded picture of spring, her happiness wearing away by layers of dust, being covered by the dirt and grime. And so, the thief, the most wanted thief in the world had stolen her happiness and left nothing but what little of her she could muster.

Except there were times when she did smile, where the wall of despair—that the thief had built up—would tumble and break, but there was only one person and could possibly bring damage to the barrier of cold and longing—and that, she knew, was her best friend for practically forever, Kaito Kuroba.

And once again she flips through the papers—Kaito. Kid. Kaito. Kid. The one that brings her the joy. The one that takes it away. It is so clear to her that they are the opposites, and yet they continue to mix and it leaves her wondering why, why would they ever be similar in any way, despite what her father says, despite what Hakuba says, there is no way that they could ever, ever be the same.

So why does she have that feeling? When she looks at Kaitou Kid and she sees the maniacal grin and it sparks something inside her—how alike Kaito and Kid are.

And yet she won't believe it, but is the reason for that simply because it is so difficult to believe? Or is she trying to persuade herself, because she simply refuses to believe that Kaito would ever do anything like that to her, would ever go out of his way to harm her.

"Aoko?"

"K-Kaito?" she turned to stare at him. As she did so, she realized that she'd been staring at the billboard for ten minutes now. The dark-haired boy gazed at her, and she sighed. "Sorry," she muttered.

Kaito shrugged. "If I'd known you were so interested in Masked Yaiba—"

"I'm not. I just got carried away," she replied, annoyed that the screen had changed so suddenly to an advertisement.

"Really?"

She nods, knowing full well by the raised eyebrow and bit lip that he doesn't believe her. But he doesn't ask.