"Nakamori Aoko desu. Yoroshiku." The seventeen year old said, bowing in front of the class.

"Thank you, Nakamori-kun. Please take the seat next to the seat by the window." The teacher said and Aoko turned back to the woman, slightly confused.

"Can I just sit in the one by the window?" Aoko asked and the teacher gave her a strange look.

"The other seat please, Nakamori-kun." The teacher said and Aoko sighed and did as she was told.

Minutes later, she looked over and the seat was no longer empty. Instead a boy was sitting there, listening to the teacher with a bored expression. He spotted her looking at him and smiled, waving. She waved back hesitantly.

After awhile, the lunch bell rang and Aoko gathered up her bento carefully, not looking at anyone. A shadow fell over her desk.

"Hi, my name's Kuroba Kaito. You're new, right? Want to come eat lunch with me?" He asked with a friendly smile.

"Um, sure. My name's Nakamori Aoko. You were late to class, weren't you?" Aoko inquired, picking up her lunch and following him out the door.

She didn't notice the strange looks her classmates gave her as she left.

"You could say that." He said nonchalantly. "Come on, let's go to the roof." He led her up a flight of stairs and they ate on the roof, enjoying each other's company.

The days after that were fun for Aoko, filled with the awe of a new friend to discover. But, then, nearly two weeks after she had first arrived, she was approached by someone who was the singularly most beautiful girl in class, Kozumi Akako.

"Nakamori-chan, correct?" the girl asked and Aoko nodded. "I have been.....watching you. You have made friends with Kuroba-kun, have you not?"

"Kaito? Yes, he's very nice, it seems he should be more popular than he is." Aoko said.

"Hmm, yes, I suppose it would. No matter. All I want to say is that you should watch out for him, he isn't what he seems. Next time you talk to him, ask him why no one talks to you in class, if you don't mind. Goodbye, Nakamori-chan." Akako said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned and walked down the hall.

The next day, as they were eating lunch of the roof yet again, Aoko did ask him.

He looked sheepish and almost apologetic as he rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, I believe that's my fault. You could say that not many of our classmates like me very much. If you wanted to stop hanging out with me, I'm sure you'd make friends in no time."

Aoko elbowed him, "Of course not, that's silly. If they're avoiding me just because they bear some kind of grudge towards you then I don't want to hang out with them anyways."

Kaito ginned wryly. "If you're sure."

Two days after that, several girls from her class approached her.

"We heard that you talk with Kuroba-kun." One of them with blonde pigtails said.

"Yeah, he's really nice." Aoko said, wondering about the strangeness of the encounter.

"Is he really? Oh, what is he like, Aoko-chan? Please tell us? Is he handsome?" one of them squealed while the others giggled.

"If you're so curious, why don't you talk to him yourself, he's right over there, we're about to go eat lunch." Aoko motioned behind her, back towards the door where Kaito was waiting, his bento in his hands.

They looked at her quizzically. "You mean he's in here right now?" the blonde one said and squealed.

"What the-?" Aoko said, watching them and a noise came from her left. She turned and saw Akako sitting there, laughing daintly.

"You mean you still don't understand, Nakamori-chan? They can't see Kuroba."

Aoko looked at the other girl in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because, my dear. Kuroba-kun has been dead for more than ten years."

It was a week before she saw Kaito again. He appeared in his desk one morning, same as always. When saw him, she abruptly stood up in the middle of class.

"May I be excused?" she inquired (more like demanded) loudly and the teacher nodded.

Aoko leaned over and grabbed the apparition by the arm, dragged him out of his seat, across the room, and out the door. He squawked and squirmed but she held firm as she dragged him towards the stairs to the roof.

"Roof. Now." She demanded, releasing him and he walked up the stairs in silence, looking rather stunned. She trudged up behind him and slammed the door behind her as they exited.

"Now then, Kaito, explain to me about you being dead for ten years and why nobody but me can see you." She demanded heatedly.

"I-I'm not sure why you can see me, honestly. But if you want to know why I died, I can tell you that." He offered and she glared hotly.

"Well, go on then." She said and he sighed and sat on the fall surface of the roof. After a moment, she sat as well and he began.

"I was a student here, about ten years ago, but, in the meantime, I was also a thief. Kaitou Kid." He said and she began to say something but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Please wait until I finish, Aoko." She scowled but nodded and he continued. "My dad was the first Kaitou Kid. I'll never know his reasons, but I know he got into something too big for him and some bastards murdered him for it. Years later, I found his secret room and his costume and it became my mission to bring his murderers to justice. It.....it seemed like a noble cause. Not so much revenge, they would've had to die for it to be revenge. So I became Kaitou Kid; to lure them out where I could get them caught. And it worked; they got caught just like I'd hoped. But, they got caught for murdering one Kuroba Kaito while he was sitting in his class like any average high schooler. Did you ever wonder why I brought the same thing for lunch everyday and why it always looked the same and why I never ate one portion of it? Ever wonder why I never offered you any of mine and never accepted any of yours? It's because I can't. I have to do the same thing every single day. Even when the teachers aren't here, even during the summer, I sit bored in class until lunch, then I go to the roof and eat lunch, then I go and sit bored in class until school ends. Every day, day in and day out. When you could see me, I was so excited. Everyone knows I'm there but they can't see me, can't hear my voice or talk to me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want to scare you away. I was lonely."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." Aoko whispered. He slung an arm around her shoulders.

"It's okay. This is the most fun I've had in a decade." Kaito said with a smile.

"How can you do that?" she asked suddenly.

"Do what?" he asked, confused.

"Touch me." She said. "You're a ghost, right? Why do you feel so real? I can even feel your heartbeat."

"As for the heartbeat, that's been my favorite question for the last five year, before that, it was: Why did they kill me during school of all things? I mean, couldn't they have killed me on a heist? At least then I could steal the same jewel for years on end instead of listening to the same material for an eternity. I wonder what'll happen if the school gets torn down? Will I end up sitting in an imaginary desk in the middle of a supermarket?" Kaito wondered idly.

"Shut up." Aoko said and then sighed. "I don't understand this."

"Welcome to the club." He murmured.

She stood up suddenly and offered him a hand. "Well, come on."

"Huh?"

She gave him a look. "I need to get back to class. Can you effect things in the real world?"

"Yeah, no problem, why?" he asked as he stood up with her.

"Good. We're going back down there right now to explain to the class that I'm not crazy and then you are going to do something to prove it and then we're all going to pretend you are our new, invisible, classmate. And I'm going to get the teacher to start putting tests and homework on your desk just like everyone else and you better do it, damn it." She had wondered for a while why he never had to take any tests or write any notes. Now, she was determined he do so.

He laughed. "You sure are strange, Aoko."

But he followed her down the stairs anyways.