Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and Ansatsu Kyushitsu characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō and Matsui Yūsei, respectively.
Warnings: Mild language and violence
Faith and Trust
By Taliya
II: Fear
The sun had long since set, blanketing the world in shadow. Kaito had remained separated from Aoko since she had awoken, the aggressive Syndicate member having taken to watching the both of them from a nearby wall. He leaned against one of the steel struts, silent, with eyes that gleamed dimly in the moonlight.
After nearly a day without anything to drink and only having been allowed to relieve himself twice, Kaito was feeling rather miserable. Multiple times he had contemplated facilitating his own escape, but abandoning Aoko was something he could not do—though to be sure, he had been sorely tempted. He wondered what exactly had been written in the ransom note, though judging by their brief conversation when the Syndicate men had entered Kaito had a fairly good idea.
The magician knew that Sable—like Snake and Spider—would not allow anyone he suspected to be KID to walk away unscathed, let alone alive. But it was interesting to note that it seemed that Snake alone was convinced that KID was his dead father, Kuroba Touichi, since neither Spider or Sable seemed to labor under that same supposition. Kaito knew that should the inspector appear his life was assuredly forfeit without any sort of backup. But Aoko's father was not a stupid man; he was in fact one of the smartest—if not the most hotheaded—men that Kaito knew, genius deductive prodigies à la Kudou and Hakuba notwithstanding. He had to be in order to get into the position he was at today.
Kaito was positive the SAT would be involved—the inspector would never do anything to risk the life of his only child, and he felt an old echoing pang of jealousy for his childhood friend, who at least had a parent who they at least saw everyday. He roughly shoved the envy aside, as now was not the time for any sort of ruminations of that kind. Instead, he focused his considerable brainpower on what to do when—not if—Jii arrived with everything he needed to make his grand entrance as Kaitou KID.
Based on what he could observe of his surroundings, Kaito had also deduced that they were likely directly north of Haneda Airport due to the direction, frequency, and noisiness of the airplanes that continually passed overhead—meaning they were likely in either Shinagawa or Koutou, though he leaned more towards Shinagawa.
With that in mind, and considering that the only entrances—excluding the windows—to the warehouse faced in a general east direction, Kaito supposed that the SAT would first surround the warehouse before sending in a negotiator who would assuredly not be the inspector.
A series of coos from one of the windows had him glancing up at a window, where he spotted a pure white rock dove—likely one of his, or rather, KID's—perched on the sill. His sharp eyes picked out a sizable bump on one leg, likely indicative of some sort of recording or monitoring device. The fact that it was giving out a mourning dove's three-noted "where are you?" call despite the fact that it was assuredly not morning nor was its plumage that of a mourning dove made Kaito grin madly behind the tape. Mourning doves were not native to Japan, after all.
Jii, he thought with relief as he chanced a quick glance at his captor, who had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. He's pulled through again. Using all of his considerable skill at ventriloquism, Kaito responded to the bird with the same species' response call, though he changed the frequency of the first so that it was not a "standard" reply of satisfaction. The twist in the birdcall was one that he had made with the elderly assistant in the event that he was in need of help of some sort, and that was the code he used now. He cooed the message three times, and the bird replied with the more usual reply of notes before it took off, only to park itself on a roof the next warehouse over.
The fact that the bird was here likely meant that Jii was somewhere nearby, and that it was time to make his escape—and for Kaitou KID to make his appearance. He glanced at Aoko with deep regret as he steeled himself for what was to come. I'm sorry I lied to you, Aoko. I'm so sorry.
With one steadying breath, Kaito suddenly flipped himself up so that he was standing, the ropes falling away from his ankles—which he had untied by being rather squirmy over the course of the day. The man watching them sprang to his feet with a surprised shout, and Kaito charged him, lashing out with a foot to knock him out cold with a solid blow to the head. When he was sure the man would not be waking anytime soon, he made quick work of freeing himself and went to work untying Aoko after he had as gently as he could peeled the tape off her face.
"Aoko," he murmured as he undid the knots for her wrists, "I need you to cover for me."
Aoko blinked in confusion as she massaged blood circulation back into her wrists and hands. "What?"
Kaito gazed into her eyes after he had completely finished freeing her and took a breath. "I'll be back in a bit, but I need you to tell everyone that I was always here."
"I don't understand," she replied, frowning.
"These guys are after KID, and—" Kaito ruffled his hair in a mix of frustration and nerves. "Aoko, these are the same guys that murdered Oyaji. I can't let them do the same to yours."
There was a moment of silence as realization sunk in. "Wait—you're…?" she breathed, her eyes widening in shock. "You're…?"
"Yes," Kaito confirmed hurriedly with a hiss of breath, "I need to prove to them that your father is not Kaitou KID so that they will not go after him again."
"But—" It seemed Aoko was at a loss for words.
Kaito glanced out the window and spotting the silhouetted speck of the bird that was waiting for him. "Look Aoko, I'll explain later, but can you help me with this? Right now?" he pleaded.
Aoko's expression was torn between confusion, betrayal, and fury. "I—all right," she assented, seeming to remember their current situation. As the daughter of a policeman and despite her penchant to allow her temper to get the better of her, she recognized when certain situations required her to hold her tongue. Her expression was thunderous, however as she wrapped her arms around her legs. "But I fully expect an explanation later, Kaito."
"I promise I will give you one," Kaito solemnly swore. Rising to his feet, he secured the entryways to ensure that none of the other Syndicate members would be able to enter through traditional means before monkeying his way up to the window. "I owe you a lot, Aoko."
"Just go," she answered curtly from her curled up position on the floor, and though her dismissive tone cut him to the quick, Kaito wasted no time in sliding through and tailing the patiently waiting bird to its destination. He kept to the shadows, aware of the fact that there were likely snipers in position since the SAT was involved. He sneaked onwards, however, breathing a sigh of relief when he found a familiar Vanden Plas Princess 1100. "Jii-chan!" he shouted as loud as he dared, which was not all that loud at all.
"Bocchama!" the elderly man answered, and Kaito flung himself into his assistant's arms for a reassuring hug. "Thank goodness you're alive!"
"So what are the police's plans?" he asked as he disengaged from Jii and began rummaging through the trunk, assessing the supplies that the man had brought with him.
Jii was abruptly all business as he explained, "It's nine forty-eight right now. The SAT have their operation set to start at ten. You're lucky you didn't get sniped."
Kaito glanced at his assistant. "I figured they would bring in snipers, but my assumption was that they would be at whatever rendezvous location listed. I didn't think Sable was stupid enough to have Nakamori-keibu meet at the same place we were being held." He studied a satellite image of the area on a laptop, and Jii had put in the rendezvous location. From where they were, it was two blocks over and one up. "SAT's probably swept the ground for the other four," he muttered as he quickly changed into the iconic white outfit and layered it over with his reconnaissance blacks, "So I should only have to worry about their ground squads if I stay off the rooftops." He shot Jii a grin. "No need to make their snipers go trigger happy, you know."
The assistant frowned. "Please don't joke about that, Bocchama," he chided, and Kaito's jocularity quieted.
"Sorry," Kaito apologized. "I'm just trying to distract myself from the fact that they took Aoko. If they had come after me, that would have been fine. But that they came after Aoko…" He trailed off, unable to fully articulate the complex mix of emotions he felt. All of it was squelched beneath Poker Face as Kaito finally finished arming himself and settled a headset into each ear. One was a private line to Jii, and the other was tuned to the SAT's frequency. He stifled a snort at the members' rather chaotic assortment of codenames, and decided that he needed to invite these people to a heist sometime, if only to hear the names 'Artsy Bean Pole', 'Amazing Monkey', and 'Womanizing Bastard' spoken with absolute seriousness again at some point.
Kaitou KID took a breath and exhaled, steadying his nerves. "Well, Jii-chan," he said, addressing his assistant, "Wish me luck."
"As if I would ever pass up the opportunity," Jii replied with a nod. "Good luck."
KID raced off at a speedy jog, a GPS tracker giving his location to Jii, who traced him on the laptop while giving him directions. The thief slid to a halt as he dodged visuals from one of the SAT squads, repeating the action several more times as he closed in on the meeting point. When he was one warehouse over, he levered himself up onto the roof, keeping himself flattened against the metal paneling as he warily scanned the horizon for the snipers' stakeout locations. He was grateful that Jii had had the foresight to point them out on the map, so at least he knew which side of the building to keep on.
He listened as Sable greeted the inspector, heard the negotiator coaching the man when possible.
"Wh—Where are Aoko and Kaito?" Ginzo demanded, and KID could clearly hear how badly the man's voice shook. It made him want to impart some more lasting damage to the men who had kidnapped both himself and Aoko. "Let me see them!"
"Do you have Pandora?" Sable barked in lieu of a reply, and the thief fingered the gem safely stowed in a pocket.
The Dream of Hera had been a green sapphire he had stolen almost a month ago when it had come to Tokyo as part of a tour. The moment the full moon's light had touched it—before he had even made it out of the museum—it had flashed a brilliant ruby, and KID had known instantly that this was the one. He had escaped, of course, but had checked once more before he had fled the scene, careful to keep the crimson light from illuminating any exposed skin. There was no telling what a gem like Pandora would and could do.
He had spent the ensuing time trying to figure out how to destroy it. Taking a sledgehammer to it had done nothing except ding the steel of the hammer; a blowtorch and crucible had failed to melt the damned thing. While Kaito had easy access to a hydraulic press, he knew where he could find one, and had tried it out after sneaking into the mechanical engineering building on Touto University's campus. That had failed miserably, and with the money he had made off of both smartphone apps and games and investments to support his ventures as Kaitou KID, he gave the Engineering Faculty an anonymous donation to fix the machine.
As it stood, Kaito's only other options were to either send the bloody rock into space, or drop it into a volcano. Currently he was favoring the volcano idea.
KID shook himself; his mental wanderings could happen later, when he ensured that everyone made it out safely.
"—show you anything until I see them!" Nakamori bellowed, and there was honest desperation in his voice. It made KID's heart ache in deep sympathy.
"They're safe enough for now," Sable replied, and the phantom thief could tell that his patience was rapidly waning. The ratcheting of a gun confirmed his suspicions. "Now," the Syndicate member snarled, "Where is Pandora?"
"Easy now, Mace Fuller," the female negotiator said over the line, and KID wondered where Nakamori's codename came about. "We've got you covered. Go ahead and ask for confirmation once more."
And with somewhat bolstered courage, the inspector once again insisted, "Where is my daughter?"
"You'll see her soon enough," Sable snapped, and KID knew this was his cue to step in before a shot was fired.
"I somehow doubt that 'soon enough' means in this world when you probably mean the next," he said, straightening from where he had been previously hidden. He fingered a smoke bomb in one hand for quick access to a speedy getaway.
"KID!" the two men on the ground shouted, and the magician smiled wider at the acknowledgement.
He raised a hand before him, and with a bit of sleight of hand, he displayed the Dream of Hera between his fingers. "Looking for this, Sable?" he taunted, wiggling the gem make it sparkle under the moonlight. He would make sure that the man's attention was focused solely on him.
Sable growled in an animalistic manner and fired two shots at him, and KID ducked out of reflex, setting off the waiting smoke bomb as he did so. He hoped that Nakamori had the sense to make a run for it now that Sable had confirmed that the inspector and Kaitou KID were most assuredly not one and the same.
Twin cracks echoed in the night, and someone let out a stifled shout of pain. "End of Perversion here," came a male voice on the SAT's headset, "Adult Game Protagonist has taken out the target's leg." The statement was quickly followed by, "This Manga is Awesome reporting, Tsundere Sniper has disarmed the target."
"KID!" Sable bellowed, his voice tinged with pain and fury. "Come out here, you fucking coward!"
Oi oi, the thief thought resentfully even as he countered with offense clear in his voice, "I highly doubt hiding when a gun is pointed your direction is considered cowardice."
"Adult Game Protagonist, I have a mark on Kaitou KID." The magician froze, wondering if the sniper would take the shot and end his life right then. While he could make an educated guess as to which of the sniper locations Adult Game Protagonist was at, it would take too long scrambling from his current position to save him.
"Don't you dare shoot him!" Nakamori snarled, and KID both heard him in real time as well as across the line.
Keibu—I didn't know you cared that much, KID thought, touched. However, he continued to act as though he had not heard the police interplay, and instead readied his card gun as he rose from his hiding place against the roofing, murmured casually, "But if you insist…" The moment he had a visual on Sable, he shot a capsule containing knock out gas at the man, dousing him in a cloud of pink vapor. He ducked a stray shot from Sable before dropping from the roof and approaching the sedated form on the ground. He kicked the man's gun away and proceeded to tie the Syndicate member up with a string of knotted handkerchiefs.
"This one's all yours, Keibu," he said once Sable was satisfactorily bound. He regarded the ragged-looking inspector and mentally encouraged him with, Just a little longer, Keibu. Aloud, he said, "I'll send up a flare if I find the kids," and made his escape with the help of a smoke bomb and a quick change into his reconnaissance blacks.
"K—KID!" Nakamori called, but by then Kaito was already on the way back to Jii, shedding his attire as he went while still managing to avoid the still vigilant squads that were widening their search radii for both himself and Aoko.
"Jii-chan!" Kaito huffed as he approached the older man, "You need to get going!" The magician quickly changed into the clothes he originally wore and shoved all of KID's gear into the trunk of the Princess with Jii's help. The assistant drove off soon after, and Kaito made his way back to the warehouse he had originally woken up in. He shot a red flare into the sky before flinging the flare gun as far away as he could manage. Kaito entered through the window he had left and was relieved to find Aoko still inside and the unnamed Syndicate member still out cold.
His drop to the ground startled a shriek from his friend, and he ducked a swipe as he yelped, "It's me, Aoko!"
Aoko froze, her breathing heavy. "Kaito…?" she ventured tentatively before surprising him by wrapping her arms around his chest. "Thank the gods you're safe!" she whispered.
Kaito felt heat rise into his cheeks at her proximity, though he did his best to control the flush in his cheeks. "Wh-Why wouldn't I be?" he stuttered out, faking bravado.
That seemed to trigger something in Aoko's mind, for she suddenly and roughly shoved him away and Kaito stumbled a few steps before recovering his balance. "You have some explaining to do," she hissed, jabbing him harshly in the sternum.
"I know, I know!" Kaito agreed, wincing at her pokes. "But let's get out of here first before I explain, okay? And…" Kaito hesitated, before forcing out, "Are you going to turn me in?" He dreaded hearing her answer, but was too curious to keep from asking.
Aoko regarded him with a blank but intense expression. She opened her mouth to answer, but a shout from outside distracted the both of them.
"Aoko! Kaito-kun!" The voice belonged to the inspector.
"Tou-san!" Aoko called out, her voice full of relief. "We're in here!"
Kaito crossed over to the door and unlocked it, only to be met with the barrel of an assault rifle. He froze, his focus narrowed down to that tiny black hole that could all too easily end his life. Immediately, he held up his hands to show that he was unarmed, and the snout of the rifle was pressed into his chest, though not harshly. Instead he stepped backwards, allowing the SAT member to back him into a corner as more officers rushed through the entry, efficiently sweeping the interior and taking the knocked out member into custody.
"Kuroba Kaito?" the SAT member who had him cornered asked.
"Th-That's me," he confirmed shakily, and only then the gun's sights drop from his torso.
"Aoko!" Nakamori's voice echoed within the warehouse, and Aoko's joyful answer had Kaito's chest tightening in relief, and while there was a relaxing comfort that came with seeing them hug, there was also a surge of bitterness that welled up in the back of his throat. He was the cause of this: the reason father and daughter had been placed in this situation. Kaito glanced away as Nakamori began questioning what had happened, abruptly feeling as though he did not deserve—what exactly, he was not quite sure of. Nonetheless, he made his way out of the warehouse, choosing instead to linger with the SAT officers waiting outside.
Kaito stared up at the moon, wondering how he would destroy Pandora, which was safety headed back to the Blue Parrot with Jii. He was worried on a number of levels, Pandora's destruction accounting for one of his sources of stress. The other main source was Aoko's knowledge that he was Kaitou KID. While Kaito dearly wished he could flee, he knew that he needed to go to the station to have his statement taken before he could retire for the night.
Aoko proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the night, much to her father's puzzlement, but Kaito waited on tenterhooks the entire time for his big reveal, but ultimately it never came. Aside from conversing with him to essentially collaborate on their statements, his friend did not bother to talk with him at all, and his time spent in the station was instead filled with Hakuba hovering anxiously over him.
By the time they were given permission to leave, Kaito was exhausted. The drive was uncomfortably silent for him, with Aoko and her father quietly conversing in the front. It was late when he returned home with the Nakamoris, and he quietly bid them good night before slinking back into his own house next door. Only when he had shut the door of his room behind him did he slide to the floor, allowing his tears of relief and fear to escape.
Saguru had been more than relieved to find his classmates safe and alive when the SAT squads returned to where they had parked the vehicles. It had taken all of his considerable willpower not to mow his two friends over in his desire to hug them—which was already unusual, as he was not normally a touchy-feely sort of person. Truthfully, the blond was a little overwhelmed by the strength of his emotions when he had seen the two trudging wearily within a sea of SAT riot gear.
"Ack! Hakuba, the hell?!" squawked Kuroba, instantly struggling out of the blond's hold, and Saguru released him after a quick squeeze to reaffirm that the thief was truly still alive. Aoko, however, clung on for a moment longer before she too let go, but there were tears of mingled relief and amused understanding in her eyes.
"Sorry," Saguru murmured with a cough of embarrassment, "I'm just—" The very idea that he might have lost two of his friends for good this night was a concept too unpalatable to contemplate—particularly now, since that chain of events had failed to come to pass. With his sudden fit of discomfiture, the blond detective ducked his head but managed to force out quietly, "I'm just glad you're still here—both of you."
"Hakuba-kun," Aoko whispered as she hugged him once more. "I'm glad we're still here too."
The SAT made quick work of carting off six men that they had captured, and Saguru presumed that they were his classmates' abductors. The men were all clad in black, and something about their eyes made the blond shiver uncomfortably. It took him a moment to figure out why: their gazes were hard and cold, and the cruel glints belonged to those who killed others without remorse. Saguru felt his heart seize at the idea that his friends had been in the clutches of these men for an entire day.
There was very little conversation between the two former captives, which struck Saguru as distinctly odd. From the cases that he had worked involving hostage situations, the people held as collateral generally bonded over the experience—and yet here Aoko actively avoided acknowledging his existence, let alone talked willingly to him. If anything, she appeared to be absolutely livid at the magician for something neither of them would talk about. That was definitely not part of the typical behavioral profile of a rescued hostage.
The devil is going on here? he wondered with a nagging curiosity that almost made him feel as though braving Aoko's mop-wielding theatrics would be worth the bruises that would be sure to form later. Only his sense of propriety and his respect for personal privacy kept him from asking either of them about their current relationship as it stood. He had a lurking suspicion that it had everything to do with Kaitou KID's appearance earlier that evening.
Saguru silently sighed as he watched Kuroba slouch in a chair in a break room, an air of miserable dejection hanging about him. He had already given his witness testimony; Aoko was currently in another office giving hers. The blond's sharp eyes picked up minute signs of anxiety in the brunet's behavior that his classmate had previously never exhibited: his right leg bounced in a frantic tempo and he haphazardly shuffled a deck of cards with less flair and dexterity than what Saguru was used to seeing.
Considering Aoko's highly vocal denouncement of the phantom thief over the years, it was really not much of a surprise that they would each react the way they were—provided that his inference regarding their silent non-dispute was indeed correct. Feeling a swell of pity and sympathy for his friend despite his misgivings regarding his unofficial occupation, Saguru plopped himself into the chair next to him, unsure of what he could say to console his friend.
"She was bound to find out eventually," he blurted out after the silence between them had long grown past awkward and into near rancid stagnancy and winced at his unpolished bluntness.
Kuroba released a strangled moan and muttered, "She's never going to want to talk to me again."
"That's not true—" Saguru began, only to cut himself off as Kuroba raised solemn eyes that radiated mournful, resigned acceptance of his fate. The blond knew of the magician's infatuation with his best friend—anyone with two brain cells to rub together could see how much the two of them adored each other despite the bickering and teasing—and it pained him to see how devastated Kuroba was at the idea that Aoko would erase him from her life entirely.
"Of course it is." Kuroba laughed mirthlessly, the sound a far cry from his usual guffaws, which were bright with cheeriness.
A part of him believed that Kuroba was only getting his just desserts for choosing to become a phantom thief and lying to everyone he knew, and Saguru realized that this school of thought was from the Hakuba Saguru that had never met Kuroba Kaito—had never had to before truly question the motivations of a criminal. Usually murders were motivated by hatred, and occasionally, greed. But Kaitou KID had been an entirely different type of criminal, one who specifically did not kill—and it had intrigued the half-Briton to the point that he had uprooted himself from London to Tokyo.
But the greater part of him felt that, after befriending the civilian personality of the phantom thief, Kuroba's motivations were—if his suppositions were correct—due to love and a desire to see justice served. And because of this, Saguru did not think that Kuroba deserved the cold shoulder that Aoko had given her best friend. At a minimum, he felt that she would at least listen to why Kuroba had turned to thievery. And though Saguru was itching to hear the tale himself, he knew that this was a conversation for just the two of them.
Damn my propriety, he cursed as he vowed to get Aoko to give Kuroba the chance to explain himself. I want to hear his story too!
Saguru huffed before stating lowly but clearly, "I'll talk to Aoko-san and see if I can get her to give you time to explain."
Kuroba's gaze, which had returned dejectedly to the linoleum flooring, snapped up to meet his. "You—" he stuttered, shocked, "You'll do that? For me?"
The blond rolled his eyes. "Would I be offering if I wasn't genuine?"
"But—but I thought you hated me," the magician murmured softly, and only then did Saguru realize how much his initial attitude had colored Kuroba's impression of him. "I thought you wanted me in prison." It was the most direct reference Kuroba had ever made towards his being Kaitou KID.
He sighed. "I don't want you in prison, and I don't hate you, Kuroba-kun. Far from, actually." When his classmate continued to give him a fairly accurate impression of a gasping fish, he chided, "Trying to catch flies, Kuroba-kun?" After the magician responded with the click of teeth, Saguru admitted, since it seemed that Kuroba was in need of reassurance of some sort, "In all honesty, I happen to consider you a good friend despite your occasional kleptomaniac tendencies—and as a friend, I'll try to get Aoko-san to ease up on you. If she's as good a friend as I believe she is, she'll forgive you." He smirked as he added, "Besides, it benefits me as well, since then I won't have to choose sides if this cold war lasts longer than a week."
Kuroba snorted and halfheartedly shoved Saguru on the shoulder. "Ass," he retorted before adding as an afterthought, "and I'm not KID." But there was a ghost of a smile that lurked on the magician's lips, and the half-Briton counted that as a win.
I believe I owe you an explanation.
Would you mind meeting me at
my house at 8:30 this evening?
-Kaito
The short note had been sitting on her desk when she had come home from her jog. A brief inquiry had confirmed that her befuddled father, who had taken the day off and was currently making dinner, had delivered the slip of paper from a wan-looking Kaito.
Aoko considered the familiar handwriting of her best friend. While there was still a molten inferno of fury directed at him for lying to her face for two years, she also had no desire to completely destroy their decade-old friendship.
It had been a week since the incident, and she had not spoken once to Kaito since they had left police headquarters. Kaito had obligingly given her space, though he constantly sent her puppy eyes that wordlessly begged for forgiveness. What surprised her most was the fact that Hakuba Saguru had, during that time, pulled her aside several times requesting that she listen to what he had to say before she made the decision to never forgive him. Aoko had no idea that the two boys were that close, considering their constant antagonism towards each other during the time they had known each other.
She thought about the memories they had created over the years: blowing bubbles and chasing butterflies in Kaito's backyard when they were six; participating as the key characters for their class's end-of-year play in their Third Year; helping each other with pre-algebra problems in their Sixth Year; inadvertently causing a miniature explosion in their chemistry lab their Ninth Year.
Kaito had grown more distant at the beginning of their Tenth Year—the year that Kaitou KID had made his reappearance on the world stage. In hindsight, she easily saw the correlation, but at the time, she had not known of the connection between the two, and would have never even thought of a connection between the two had Hakuba not enrolled in their class. Looking back, she now felt rather foolish for defending Kaito as vehemently as she had, but without the knowledge she now possessed, could she honestly have been blamed for simply wanting to stand up for her best friend in the face of such an extreme and seemingly absurd accusation?
Aoko clenched her phone, the plastic creaking in protest. All week she had waffled over when—not whether or not—she planned on speaking with Kaito. She had wanted time to cool her head, as she knew she had a tendency to say very hurtful things when upset, but the sheer scale of his transgression was unlike anything she had ever dealt with, and her feelings regarding Kaito's duplicity ran deep. But considering that Kaito had finally worked up the nerve to finally ask to speak with her, Aoko felt she should oblige. So, she sent him a cursory text informing him that she would on his doorstep at the appointed time.
Now that the text was sent, she went and showered to rinse the sweat and grime from her run off of her. She had a quiet dinner with her father, thanking him for the meal before excusing herself.
"Aoko." Aoko turned at the sound of her father's voice, and the man sighed as he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say. "I can tell you're upset with Kaito-kun about something, but just—just give him a chance, all right? A friendship that's lasted as long as yours shouldn't end like this."
She gazed at her father for a moment, taking in the wrinkles of concern that creased his face before stepping forwards and embracing him. "I'll keep that in mind," she murmured before letting go and making her way to the door. A few minutes later found her ringing the doorbell to the Kuroba home. It was such a familiar place, and yet Aoko had never felt more like a stranger staring up at that façade.
Kaito answered the door after a few breaths, and his deadened eyes and drawn expression alerted her to much her silence had affected him. He stepped back, wordlessly allowing her entry, and Aoko stepped into her customary slippers with the ease of habit. Kaito led her silently to the living room, where he had already prepared a tray of tea. They sat on the couches, Kaito on one and Aoko on the other, the silence oppressive as they sipped their mugs. At length Aoko decided to break the ice with her usual grace and tact.
"Were you secretly laughing?" she demanded, and she abruptly realized how her hands trembled ever so slightly as her anger rose, fueled by her pain. "Watching Aoko and thinking, Poor stupid Aoko, in love with the very same man she hates more than anyone else in the world?"
The magician recoiled as if physically slapped in the face. "No, Aoko, I—"
But now that she had released her initial thoughts, it was as though a torrent had been unleashed, and she allowed it to run off her tongue unchecked. "Were you just playing with Aoko's feelings then?"
"I would never—just let me explain!" Kaito pleaded, setting his own mug down.
Kaito's interjection only fueled her anger. "Explain what, Kaito?" she snapped, "That you chose to be a criminal?" She set her own mug down lest she either toss it contents at Kaito's face or shatter the container with her increasingly tense grip. She blinked, abruptly aware of the blurriness of her vision as she stared furiously at her longtime friend. "That you chose to lie to my face for years?"
"I chose to become a phantom thief because of Oyaji!" Kaito insisted, and the deep, raw hurt in his eyes made her pause even in her own towering fury.
She pulled her emotions back enough to hiss out, "What do you mean by that?"
Kaito ran a hand through his disheveled hair as he whispered, "The guys that were captured that night were—" He broke the thought off, and Aoko's eyes caught the convulsive bobbing of his Adam's apple. What came next was a tale of love and loss, revenge and justice, integrity and criminality. Kaito explained how he had found out, how he had chosen to take up the cloak, how he risked his life every time he donned the monocle, how he had come to the decision not to involve the police in his searching.
Aoko was floored by the end of Kaito's recitation of the history and evolution of the infamous phantom thief. Once Kaito finished his narrative, the two of them sat quietly in the Kuroba living room, each lost in their own thoughts, the tea having gone cold long ago.
"Kaito…" she murmured, at a loss as to what to say.
Her friend glanced briefly at her through his fringe, and he exhaled. "Do you… do you still hate me, Aoko, for lying to you?" he asked, and there was clear trepidation in both his voice and body language, as though he appeared to be bracing himself for a beating.
"I'm mad at you, Kaito," Aoko answered, still trying to wrestle with her own roiling emotions. Kaito flinched at her statement, but she continued with, "But you're still my friend, and you had reasons—that I understand, even if I don't agree with—to become KID." She caught Kaito's gaze and held it steadily. "It'll take time for me to come to terms with everything you've told me, but if this Syndicate is as dangerous as you claim, then I'll help you find them."
Kaito squawked at her decision. "A-Aoko, it's dangerous to involve your—"
"Like it's any less dangerous for you," she countered. "I may not be trained in ninjutsu like you, but I'm sure there are other ways I can help in the background."
"You're sure about this?" Kaito asked, but even she could see that he was caving in to demand to be included. Aoko had a stubborn streak like that, and knew when to use it to her advantage whenever she had to deal with her childhood friend.
Aoko nodded. "Maybe it'll help me reconcile things faster. But more importantly, these men need to be brought to light, and there's no need for you to do this alone." And for the first time in a week, Aoko smiled at Kaito. "Isn't that what friends are for?"
Kaito's tentative, answering beam was all the answer she needed.
Author's Note: I honestly had no idea what to name this piece, as it's so scattered in themes that there was nothing that stood out to me, so yeah, perhaps the title doesn't match the story at all. Up until I completed writing this, I had it labeled as "Untitled Ginzo". Author fail. Anyhow, friendship for the win! I do so love it when situational conflicts end up bringing people closer together. I'm growing so much more fond of Saguru the more I write him. Aoko was much harder to write here than I expected, especially since I had to first frame her from Kaito's very scared point of view before switching to hers later. Certain aspects of the police-related stuff are based on picking the brain of my friend and coworker Kevin (thank you!), who is a former homicide investigator with twenty-plus years of experience, so hopefully from the police side it reads as fairly realistic—there remains, however, a distinct measure of artistic license involved… I hope you enjoyed it.
Completed: 19.12.2016