'Text message' / "Speech" / Thoughts
"I'm home."
Aoko closed the door behind her and kicked her shoes aside before switching the lights on. Her house was empty, like usual, and she guessed that her dad must have left to party with his squad for protecting the jewel successfully.
At least the jewel wasn't stolen or anything, even though technically, it was hanging from the ceiling after Kaitou Kid disposed it.
She slumped onto the couch and stretched lazily. Her eyes wandered over living room and she focused onto nothing as she slowly recalled the day spent at the museum. Her lips slightly curled down, but not as much as the first few times when she went to Kid's heist. Aoko was used to the disappointment and uncountable failure to catch the thief and she pondered if all those years, her father was numb to this feeling too that he neglected everything; her as he continued to hunt for Kaitou Kid.
All these while, Aoko wondered if the thief was really shot that day and she became slightly doubtful about it when Kaitou Kid announced his plans to steal the Star of Hope. But after the heist, Aoko was sure that the thief was hit by the bullet.
Kid was always flashy. He never fail to show up with pink bombs or make fanciful entrance. Heck, Kid would have set fireworks if he wanted to but Aoko felt the reason he didn't because he needed to keep his budget in check too. But this time, the phantom thief was acting like a real phantom. He cut the electricity, sealed the place and turned the hall into the darkest place Aoko ever been and only used his voice to prove that he was there.
But was he?
Aoko crossed her arms. There were three possibilities that Aoko could think of. Making everyone blind in the darkness while he probably used some special goggles because...
1) He decided to cheat this round since the little smart nemesis of his was there.
2) He needed to go and flirt with his ten girlfriends or something so he decided to quickly finish the heist tonight.
3) He was shot and still recovering, so he couldn't appear but used the dark to cover it up.
Deep down in her heart, she knew point three was definitely the answer, but if he was really recovering, why did he bother to waste his energy to steal within such a short period? There were times he just went missing for a week or two, so what was the sudden rush? The more she thinks, the more confuse she got.
She closed her eyes and scratched her hair. She needed a bath now and it would be better to just to forget about it. At least things wasn't awkward since he did his job in the dark this time. If she were to cross path with him, she wouldn't know what to say to him either. For a moment, Aoko wondered if he was angry with her since she went against his warnings and still appear at his heist.
Why the hell was she wondering if the thief was angry with her or not?! Aoko rolled her eyes at herself and stood up from her seat. She should be the one angry at him for everything he had done.
Huffing out loud, she stormed to her room and accidentally knocked her toe against the dining chair as she yelped out in pain. Hopping about while her hands were clutching onto her toe, she growled in frustration, clearly pissed off at herself for thinking about Kaitou Kid for more than five minutes because nothing good ever happened to her when she thought of that stupid thief.
While she continued to wince in pain, her phone vibrated in her pocket as she slowly put her foot down and fished out her phone
A message from Kaito? Didn't we just split path ten minutes ago? Did he forget his keys or something? Aoko thought and she unlocked the phone to see what the content was. She blinked when she read what he sent to her.
'Have you reached home?'
Aoko gave a disbelief look at her phone. She slowly moved the phone away from her face and blinked a couple of times before looking back at the screen again.
Nope, she wasn't hallucinating.
W-What's with the question? Aoko blushed. She had completely forgotten the hate for the chair that her toe knocked against as she pulled it out and sat heavily on it. Wait... Why am I so flustered? He probably asked if I'm home so he could...maybe... uh... ask me to make him supper or something!
She sent a reply back.
'Yeah, at home now. What's wrong?'
Her phone vibrated two seconds after her message was sent.
'Nah, it's late so I'm just asking in case you got kidnapped.'
Aoko's cheek twitched. She bit her curled up lips as she began swinging her legs like a child.
'How caring of you. The kidnappers wouldn't ask you for ransom anyway so you don't have to worry.'
'You're right, for once. I guess I just wasted my effort to check up on you.'
This was more like that Kaito she knew. His words were often filled with twist and hidden meanings that Aoko sometimes couldn't understand even when he was her best friend for a decade. Yes, he did care for her sometimes and she could tell, although he was never direct with his words. 'Have you reached home?' seemed too nice and was something he wouldn't use. If it was the usual him, the first text he sent her would be 'Are you now at home and admiring your flat chest in the mirror?'
'Ugh you jerk. Then have you reached home?'
'Ew Aoko, are you actually expressing your concerns for me?'
She tightened her clutch on her phone and shook it, wishing she could strangle him like how she was strangling her phone. Nothing amazed her more than Kaito, able to piss her off even when he was not with her.
Her phone vibrated in her hands again and she blinked as she looked at the screen. A photo was attached to the new message that Kaito just sent.
'Anyway, here's your stupid photo before I delete it.'
At first Aoko didn't understand what Kaito meant, but once she did, she snickered as she recalled how irritated Kaito looked when she bugged him to use his phone to help her take a photo because she insisted his phone camera's was of a better quality than hers.
Well, it wasn't just his hobby to annoy her, she enjoyed annoying him too, just that he won her by a large extent.
Aoko tapped on the picture to enlarge it and it showed the photo of her and Conan smiling together. Her eyes instantly softened at the awkward looking boy who was trying to pose as naturally as possible. Knowing someone who disliked Kid wasn't something Aoko could find so easily nowadays, with the accumulating fans that spread across Japan and even overseas.
Her gaze focused back onto the child again.
She heard from her father that Conan helped a few times in stopping Kid, much to his displeasure when he realized a mere child posed a threat to his career. But he acknowledged it and today, Aoko met him and couldn't help but to believe how true her father's words and how those newspaper reports wrote about Edogawa Conan.
But it wasn't so simple... she wasn't sure how to put her feelings into words... Was he a prodigy? A genius? A reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes? Close enough, but the child didn't seem to be like what Aoko thought to be.
Her train of thoughts randomly broke when she realized she still owed Kaito a reply.
'Hehehe thanks!'
'I'm going to bathe now. Ew but see you in school on Monday.'
Her mood was ruined within a second and Aoko furiously typed her reply.
'EW BACK AT YOU!'
She slammed her phone on her lap and stood up, pushing the chair back and almost toppling it. Indeed, it was late and her mood was getting grumpier. A bath and a good night sleep would cure everything and she'll spend her time tomorrow to finish all her homework like she promised herself when she decided to attend Kid's heists today.
Aoko gave a last glance around the empty living room and sighed before she headed to her room.
.o.
Down the quiet and long streets, Aoko just finished giggling when her best friend Keiko brought up a funny joke that happened a few days ago in school. It was their usual walking home session on Wednesday, which they promised that whether it was sunny or rainy, they would still walk home together; just the two of them.
Their class ended much earlier but they stayed back in school to finish up some assignments before they headed home. That was why the streets was rather quiet in the early evening when most of the students were either at home or elsewhere, far away from school.
"Hey Aoko..."
The said girl turned to her best friend and gave a questioning gaze, slightly curious at Keiko's sudden change in tone.
"Yeah?"
"Does Kuroba-kun have a girlfriend?"
Aoko made an unidentifiable noise and blinked a couple of times. "How would I know?"
"But you're his best friend!" Keiko argued.
"I guess so but we've never talk about relationship things before so I never ask and he never tell me if he has one or not."
"Then what do you think?" Keiko leaned towards Aoko as the latter slightly backed away but their synchronized steps were not broken.
Aoko nervously glanced to her side before turning her head away to hide her face better. Keiko didn't even have to ask her and she already thought about this subject before, long time ago. And now that Keiko prompted it, that weird but familiar feeling began to linger in her chest again.
"I really don't know."
"It's a yes or a no!"
Aoko turned back to Keiko, a small frown etched on her face. "Why are you so curious about whether Kaito got a girlfriend or not?" In the very next second, her face fell lax before she leaned forward in an exasperated manner, so fast that if Keiko didn't move back in time, their head would have collided. "Have you fallen in love with Kaito?!"
"There's no way I'll ever like that pervert best friend of yours!"
"Then why the question?" Aoko asked calmly, like her sudden outburst previously didn't even happen.
"It's not me that's interested in him." Keiko said nonchalantly before she slapped her hand over her mouth and quickly glanced at Aoko.
"W-What?"
"W-What?" Keiko echoed back and began laughing. In that split second, her pace quickened and Aoko narrowed her eyes, easily catching up with Keiko when her stamina and speed was the best among the girls in class, thanks to her daily training of chasing Kaito around the school.
It was a pointless run-and-chase game and Keiko knew that well enough to slow down and finally answer Aoko's question. "It's Haruka-chan. She asked me to investigate if Kuroba-kun has any girlfriend, since I'm your best friend and you're his best friend, so..."
"Haruka-chan likes Kaito?!"
"Shhhh!" Keiko pressed her finger on Aoko's lips as she glanced around hesitantly before pulling her hand away. "It's suppose to be a top-secret investigation and I'm not supposed to let you know!"
Aoko felt like laughing out loud but she knew it was rude of her to do so, instead she bit her lips and tried to suppress that amusement within her. "But Haruka-chan is so cute and smart! Isn't she popular among the boys? Why would she like Kaito?"
Keiko shrugged and they continued their walk back home. "I guess human desires for things that they don't have. He's also pretty cool with his magic tricks and such. Although he's a big pervert, he's not like other guys who played with girl's feelings or tried to get any girl's attention."
"Well yeah-"
"Except for you!" Keiko butt in and Aoko blinked.
"Me?" Aoko pointed at herself and gave an accused look. "What did I do?"
"You're the only girl he cares about in like, the whole school!"
"T-That's not true!" Aoko waved her arms around. "It's just-"
"Haruka-chan could have asked you about Kuroba-kun," Keiko interrupted Aoko again as the former gave a sinister smirk, "but she asked me instead because she thought of the possibility that you're his girlfriend."
This time, Aoko couldn't hold her laughter and she erupted into a fits of giggle. "What are you saying?!"
Keiko rolled her eyes, completely not amused and watched Aoko continued her chortling with an unsatisfied look.
Aoko wiped an invisible tear from her eye. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She sniffed.
"Aren't you affected by what Haruka-chan said?" Keiko gestured her hands animated over her chest.
"For?" Aoko raised an eyebrow.
"Have you ever considered becoming Kuroba-kun's girlfriend?"
Aoko slapped her forehead and gave a loud sigh. "Keiko, you need to stop talking like this because I might laugh too much and end up in the hospital."
Keiko gave a small pout. "To be honest, I don't think it's possible to see him with anyone else." She tapped her chin and gave a sidelong glance at Aoko. "It's either you or he doesn't have one. But since Haruka-chan wanted me to ask this specific question, I'll just ask for her."
"Well, I can guarantee that I'm not his girlfriend so Haruka-chan can be reassured."
"Why do you make it sound like he has a girlfriend but it's not you?" Keiko quirked her eyebrow.
Aoko scratched her cheeks and stared up at the sky, her chest feeling heavier than before. "Because it's true."
"Wh-What?!" Keiko stopped on her tracks and grabbed Aoko's shoulder, shocking her as her blue eyes widened in surprise.
"Uh I-I mean I'm not sure if he has one but you can't rule out that possibility!" Aoko yelped.
"But something must have happened to make you think like that." Keiko frowned, not in displeasure but in worry. "Aoko, are you keeping something from me?"
"It's not it..." Aoko moved her eyes away but Keiko continued to meet her gaze with a suspicious look and Aoko finally gave in. Keiko was always great at noticing these little things about Aoko, maybe because the two of them knew each other since the start of their High School. Aoko was glad to have such a caring best friend like Keiko, but this made her wonder if Kaito was even half as observant as Keiko when they knew each other for a decade.
"Well?" Keiko prompted and put her arms down.
"Lately Kaito's been really busy. Though he still do those usual magic tricks and play a fool in class, things are a little different now." Aoko mumbled. "He 's been skipping the dinners I made for him, rushing off straightaway after school, postponing our study sessions and... Basically, even though it's the same in school, we're different outside. We don't hang out as much anymore."
Realization dawned over Keiko's face. "You mean that Kuroba-kun might have a girlfriend outside of school?"
She nodded her head in silence.
Keiko gave a comforting pat on Aoko's back and they continued walking again. "Maybe he's just really busy with things!"
Aoko scoffed and gave an amused looked over at Keiko. "What things?"
"It's impossible." Keiko shook her head desperately before she gave a soft sigh. "I just thought that even if he does have a girlfriend, it's yo-"
Aoko put a hand on her best friend's shoulder, cutting her off before she finished that sentence. She heard it far too many times and she didn't really want to hear it anymore. It didn't help to minimize that stupid weird feeling in her chest but only to amplify it and she wanted that to stop. "Keiko, it's impossible between us, I'm serious. Besides, I'm not his type."
"Kuroba-kun has a type?" Keiko gave a disbelief look.
"He prefer girls with... better assets than me."
"Oh come on Aoko! It's not the appearance we're talking about. It's the heart, the personality, the chemistry and love!" Keiko sprouted her arms like wings and gestured them around to emphasis her individual points.
"Love, huh?" Aoko sighed softly. There was no way in a million years that Kaito would be interested in that thing called love. It wasn't within the zone of his things-to-care list but more of his get-this-away-from-me list. Even if he confused her from time to time, she understood him well enough to know that he couldn't care less about something stupid like love.
But maybe one day, a girl like Haruka could change his view about romance. Or maybe... he already had one to change his views already...
"Earth to Aoko?"
"Huh?"
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing. Sorry, did you say something?"
Keiko didn't look like she believed her but she let it pass this time, which Aoko was grateful for. "Nonetheless, I still need to give a definite answer to Haruka-chan."
"Why does she want to know anyway?" Aoko asked. "Is the answer really important?"
"Because if he doesn't have a girlfriend, she planned on confessing to him."
All of the sudden, Aoko couldn't breathe. There was something in her throat, blocking the air that she desperately needed but her face displayed no struggling emotions or any sign that showed she needed air. And for that two seconds that seemed like eternity, Aoko finally managed to breathe again as she nodded her head and made a simple noise to signify that she heard what Keiko said.
Keiko sighed. "Since you already knew this much, I don't think telling that would make any difference." She glanced up at the orange sky, totally oblivious at the suddenly quiet Aoko beside her. "Haruka-chan was a little impatient recently and so I decided to make use of our walking-home session to ask you this question since it's the best time to get an answer from you."
"I see."
"If I just guess an answer and tell her, the consequence would be dire so I needed to confirm with you." Keiko further explained.
"You're lucky. Kaito said he'll come over to have dinner over at my house tonight. I can try asking him then."
"Re-Really?" Keiko's mood perked up but her face fell lax again as she gave a sheepish look. "Sorry for the trouble."
Aoko rubbed the back of her head. "Provided that he turns up and doesn't forget about it though. He often used the reason that he forgets and didn't come to have his dinner in the end, like always."
"I mean in a way that troubles you." Keiko bit her lips. "To let you ask Kuroba-kun such things and hurting yo-"
Aoko waved her off. "There's no trouble. Haruka-chan wants to confess right? She needs an answer."
Keiko's eyes wavered and guilt immediately appeared on her face. "Hey, Aoko... I think you should forget asking Kuroba-kun. Just forget what I said, please?"
"Why?"
Keiko bit her lips. "I don't know. I feel that it's wrong of me to ask you to do this."
"Honestly, I'm curious for a very long time." Aoko gave an assured smile. "This finally gives me a reason to ask him so it's a win-win situation!"
"Really?"
"Yeah."
.o.
There was a very long period of time when Kaito didn't turn up for the dinners that Aoko made for him, but she never complain or tell him that she always threw the extra food she made away because she didn't want him to feel guilty too. But ever since that time when he fallen ill one month ago and she discovered that his house had no food at all, she forced him to come over for one consecutive week after he became better.
When she stopped forcing him to come and just chided him to eat properly like a human, he turned up on his own will at least thrice a week and just eat at her house. There were one or two times when her father was coincidentally and miraculously there too.
On that same day after Keiko and Aoko had that talk on their way home, Aoko couldn't concentrate on her cooking at all and ended up burning the food instead. The only thing edible she made that night were two fried eggs.
She stared down at the completely black hamburger steaks on her pan before looking up at the clock. It was near seven in the evening and there was no way she have the time or resources to make new ones. She grabbed the handle on the pan and sighed out loud as she watched the burnt food slipping down and into the bin.
After she placed the pan into the sink and turned around while untying her waist apron, her face almost knock right straight into something firm and she almost screamed until she saw what the thing that suddenly appeared behind her was.
Not exactly thing though.
"Kuroba Kaito!" Aoko heaved a sigh of relief before she growled. "Are you trying to scare the hell out of me?"
"I actually made a grand entrance when I entered your home, you're just too distracted to notice me at all." He leaned against the counter.
"Wait, how did you come in?"
"I've been ringing the bell for five times so I used my own method."
"But I didn't hear- Hey that's trespassing!"
He waved her off nonchalantly and sniffed the air. "So what are we having tonight? Your specialty; burnt crisp of death?"
Aoko scowled and picked up the bin, shoving it to his direction. "Would you like some? Fresh and hot!"
Kaito chuckled and took the bin from Aoko's hand and she never thought that he would actually take it from her. He peered inside and his laughter grew louder.
She huffed. The hamburger steaks were supposed to be perfect. It was just that she was distracted and didn't notice the fire! But there was no way she would tell Kaito her reasons. He would just made a joke out of it and in the end, the one losing would still be her. She could continue that pointless argument if she wanted but tonight, she didn't have much energy to do so.
"Let's eat out tonight. My treat." Kaito brushed past her and placed the bin back to the original position.
Aoko blinked before she narrowed her eyes. "That's very kind of you but what's the bargain?"
Before she could turn to hear his answer, she felt a tug on her back and the apron that was tied around her waist became loosened. Not able to react fast enough, a gentle force made her spin around in her position and the apron was completely pulled away from her waist.
Aoko gave a small yelp and after she whirled around, the first thing she noticed was Kaito smiling at her. That image that caused her breath to hitch for a second was completely gone when she realized Kaito just threw her apron over her head.
"The bargain is that you need to wear something cuter instead of a shirt and jeans."
"Kuroba Kaito! Now my hair's oily and ruined!" Aoko yelled.
"Go and bathe or whatever and get ready. Don't make me wait." Kaito said as he made his way to the living room.
"I'll take one hour and see what you can do." Aoko stuck out her tongue.
"It's not advisable to eat so late, don't you know?" Kaito slumped onto the sofa and picked up the remote. "The thing that is growing bigger wouldn't be your chest but your stomach instead."
"Enough about my chest already!" She exclaimed as she stormed to her room to get her fresh clothes.
.o.
They settled for dinner in a nearby family restaurant and Aoko ordered meatball pasta while Kaito ordered chicken chop.
It wasn't exactly meatball pasta but more of fries and pasta. When Kaito kept on stealing the meatballs that she was saving for later, she took his fries to get back at him.
Even when they continued to throw insults at each other, the mission that was weighing in her mind was not forgotten. There were a few times when Aoko wanted to speak up and bring that matter into their conversation but something kept on stopping her even when she had the chance. And Kaito was obviously smart enough to tell but she would just act like she didn't know, just to save that small little pride in her.
But avoiding wasn't helping when she was making things obvious and now it would seem weird and awkward if Aoko really asked him that question. She could have just acted like she was curious and asked for fun but now she seemed like she asked because it was important to her.
Yes, it's true that it was important to her, but to Kaito...
She sighed inwardly.
"Why don't you eat the fork too?"
Aoko blinked and looked up, she opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about when she realized the fry on her fork was gone and she was nibbling on the utensil instead. Embarrassed, she place the fork down and pulled her glass of lemonade towards her and began drinking.
"What's with you today? You got something to say?"
She quickly pushed her drink away before she accidentally took another sip and choked. Aoko wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and glanced up tentatively before looking away.
"Well, uh I do have something to say."
"Then spit it out." Kaito gave a weird look over at Aoko, munching onto his chicken.
What is wrong with me? Just say it already! Aoko took in a deep breath. "I was just wondering, like, do you have a..."
Kaito hunched his back and frowned. "A what?"
"Girlfriend." Aoko spat out the word like there was acid in her mouth.
There were three seconds of silence before he burst out laughing. Yeah, she counted in her head. Exactly three seconds.
"What the heck?!" Kaito clutched onto his stomach and continued chuckling, earning a few stares from the customers around them. Aoko quickly sent them an apologetic look before nudging Kaito to stop his noise pollution.
"Stop laughing!"
"Yeah yeah." Kaito said but he couldn't help but snickered a few more seconds before he finally calm down. "Now I know why you looked so uncomfortable the entire time. So you want to know if I've got a girlfriend?"
Aoko sighed and nodded.
"Aren't you my girlfriend?" Kaito quirked an eyebrow and Aoko's face turned bright red and she picked the mini menu stand on the table and raised it threateningly over her head.
"What are you saying?! Since when am I your girlfriend?!"
"Aren't you a girl and my friend?" Kaito raised his arms to defend himself, in case she really lands a hit. "Don't tell me you're really a boy in disguise?!"
"You stupid jerk!" She placed the menu down as gently as she could when she realized there were more people staring at them now than when Kaito was laughing a while ago. She gave them an embarrassed look again before glaring back at Kaito.
He placed his arms down and grabbed the mini menu stand from the table, setting it far away so Aoko couldn't reach it again.
"We're going to get blacklisted from this restaurant if we continue. Can't we just talk normally for once?" Aoko mumbled.
Kaito scoffed. "Now it's my fault?"
"Just answer my question."
No. Don't answer it. A part of her brain screamed. She didn't want to congratulate him if he answers yes. She didn't want to sound happy for him when she gives him her blessings. Everything would be so wrong because this wasn't what she wanted to do.
Yes. Answer me. Another part of her brain solemnly said. To get it over and done with. To stop herself from pondering on the same question for nearly a year almost every night and the only one who was hurting was herself. She needed a closure, an answer to this.
"I don't have a girlfriend, stupid. Who the hell have time for that?"
There was a short silence.
"I-I-Is that so?" Oh my god why did I stutter? Why?!
"Now it's your turn to answer me. Why the sudden question?"
"Just curious." It wasn't a lie. She gazed up at him as he narrowed his eyes at her and she gave a toothy grin back.
"That's unfair, I answered your question so you should answer mine."
"I already did."
He placed his heavy head on his palm and continued staring at her. "Don't tell me you're interested in me."
"No!" Aoko gritted through clenched teeth before looking around the restaurant. Good, she didn't disturb anyone.
"Then?"
She had two choices. She could turn into a horrible person and spill Haruka's secret or say out her true feelings, which was also a stupid choice because she technically wasn't supposed to be sad or anything when she spent less time with Kaito. If he knew that, she would have been embarrassed to death.
True, they're best friends, but expressing their fondness for each other's companion seemed to be forbidden between the two of them. There was never a rule that stated so and Aoko didn't know when did it all began but maybe it was more on the pride issue than a taboo or some sort. They've hurled too much insults at each other everyday, which slowly became their main form of communication and saying anything else was just too weird.
She sighed inwardly.
Both those choices weren't even choices at all. Exposing Haruka's plan would not cause Aoko any harm but she knew that it was wrong to do so... and she didn't dare to tell him either. He would definitely acted all smug about it but whether he would accept Haruka's confession or not... that was another story and for now and Aoko didn't have any will left to prepare herself to know that answer when the first question drained all of her energy already.
"I was just wondering if I have one, would you too?" Those words just came out naturally out of Aoko's mouth that she didn't know what she said until she registered those words in her mind.
His jaws tightened and his gaze suddenly turned solemn in a way that Aoko never seen before, but that expression was gone in an instant after she blinked and she regretted it.
Kaito gave a disgusted look. "What? You like someone?"
"What's with the face?"
"Just pitying that poor guy."
Aoko gave a fake sweet smile at him and rolled her eyes. "For now, you can save your effort because that guy doesn't exist. But anyway, we've never talked about relationships before so I just thought about bringing it up. That's all." Aoko explained. Everything she said was really true, just that she left out certain important points and it wasn't lying.
She disliked people who lies and she wasn't intending to become someone she disliked.
"Whatever." Kaito rubbed his stomach and glanced away as he leaned back on his chair. "Suddenly have some cravings for ice cream. You want any?"
"Okay!" Aoko chirped, a little glad that she finally moved on with this conversation. She got the answer she needed anyway. "But are you treating that too?"
"Yeah yeah."
.o.
"Thanks for the dinner." Aoko turned to Kaito when they reached outside of her house as she pat her full stomach with a satisfying smile.
Despite all those insults he threw at her about how fattening it was if she ordered so much ice cream, she didn't care and went ahead to pick all her favorites, just to piss him off with the amount he needed to pay too, although he didn't seem concern with the money but more about mocking her and her accumulating fats.
He shoved his hands in his pocket. "You need to improve your cooking skills though. Don't expect me to treat you like this every time."
Aoko curled her lips down and stormed through her front gates. "And here I was, being really grateful. I'll take back my thanks!"
Kaito grinned. "See your flat chest in school tomorrow." He gave a half-hearted wave and disappeared behind the brick wall before Aoko could shout back at him, although she decided against it in the end.
She unlocked the door and went in, not surprise that her father still wasn't back at home since he did mention it to her beforehand. Although she was used to the darkness that crept in her house since she was often home alone, she hastily rushed to her room and opened the door before closing it behind her, letting the door be the barrier of that empty feeling she had whenever she was at home by herself.
Pushing back those unnecessary thoughts, Aoko switched on her bedroom lights and sat on the edge of her bed before she abruptly broke into a silly grin. There wasn't that weird pain in her chest anymore and she probably could get a good rest tonight. She shook her head and sighed, feeling a little crazy herself to even think that Kaito got a girlfriend.
Pfft. And here I was, worrying for nothing.
But why was she worrying in the first place? She flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Aoko knew that one day, something was going to cause a distant between Kaito and her to grow and him having a girlfriend was something that first came to Aoko's mind. If Kaito got a girlfriend, she couldn't hang out with him anymore.
She couldn't ask him out during Christmas Eve, go to the shrine during New Year, give him obligatory chocolates during Valentines's day, watch a movie, get a drink, study together, walk home together, cook him dinner, make sure he eats well... All these things would be done by his girlfriend and not her. It wasn't her duty.
And Aoko couldn't really imagine that time to come.
The silly grin was still etched on her face but after a while, her smile slowly faltered as she turned to her side, letting her arms becoming her pillow.
If he didn't have a girlfriend... then why did everything still changed since last year?
.o.
"You seriously asked?"
"Yeap."
"And he said he doesn't have one?"
"Yeap."
Keiko beamed while Aoko raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I knew it from the start! It's either you or no one else." She leaned against Aoko's desk and she crossed her arms proudly and Aoko didn't exactly know what Keiko was proud of.
"What about Haruka-chan?" Aoko tilted her head. "You want to help Haruka-chan, that's why you wanted me to ask right?"
"It's not the same." Keiko leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. "Whether Kuroba-kun already has a girlfriend and Haruka-chan confessing is two different things."
The more she listened, the more she didn't get it. "How is that different?"
"If Kuroba-kun has a girlfriend, then I guess it's really over." Keiko leaned even closer to Aoko's ears. "But Haruka-chan confessing doesn't mean that Kuroba-kun will accept, right?"
Before Aoko could say anything, a figure appeared behind Keiko and the two girl's attention were directed to the newcomer.
"Morning Haruka-chan." Aoko gave a pleasant smile as Keiko quickly flashed a nervous smile, obviously a little tense when she just finished talking about Haruka behind her back.
"Morning Nakamori-san." Haruka sent an equally nice smile back before looking over at Keiko. "Sorry, but I need to borrow Keiko for a bit if you don't mind."
"Yeah, sure."
She watched the two go before looking back down on her desk. Haruka was probably asking for an answer now and Keiko would definitely tell her like what she was supposed to. She sighed again.
Aoko gave a tiny peek at Keiko and Haruka's direction. The latter looked utterly pleased at what Keiko was saying with both her hands clenched together and eye brightening up and such. Aoko looked away and back at her empty desk.
Since Haruka got the answer she wanted, she would definitely moved on to the second step, which was to confess.
It was like one problem leading to another...
She straightened her posture and slapped her cheeks lightly. Come on Aoko, Haruka-chan confessing isn't a problem! She's my classmate and I should give her my support! Right? Aoko lowered her gaze. But the guy she likes is Kaito...
A day didn't pass and that irritating feeling came back to her chest again.
"Whoa Kaito, you're earlier than the teacher today."
"I know right."
Aoko glanced up, watching the class joker making small talks with their classmate before he headed towards her direction, or more specifically, his desk that was right beside hers.
"Yo!" He raised his hand and greeted after he sat on his seat.
"Yo." She drawled.
"School haven't start and you're feeling moody already?"
"I'm not mood-"
"Kaito-Kun!"
The two of them looked up and standing before them was Haruka, not like Aoko was expecting anyone else. She glanced behind Haruka's back, to find Keiko standing a few desk behind, giving a casual shrug. Aoko focused her attention back onto Haruka again.
"What's up?" He answered.
Haruka smiled. "During lunch, can I speak to you in private?"
Kaito raised both of his hands in defense. "Hey, hey... I didn't peek in any girl's lockers room!"
"No, it's not about that!" Haruka blushed. "It's about something else."
"Okay...?"
"Meet me at the rooftop. I'll stay there until you come."
"Cool."
"See you later!" Haruka blurted out loud before she hopped back to her desk and started squealing with her friends. The two of them stared at the weird commotion before Kaito broke the silence between them.
"What the hell is going on? What did I do? What does she want from me?"
Aoko turned and smirked "Now you know how it feels when you don't know what's happening?"
Kaito stared back. "What do you mean by that?"
"You're always confident with your pranks because you know what's going to happen while the others don't. Now it's time to taste your own medicine." Aoko stuck out her tongue.
"So it's revenge, huh? Something's up at the rooftop." Kaito crossed his arms. "Fine, I'm not going up later."
She gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Aoko couldn't find the voice to speak at all. She should insist and tell him to go up the rooftop because Haruka wasn't preparing any prank on him but was going to confess to him. And if he didn't appear, wouldn't she be waiting for the whole day? Nothing could have been worse than that.
But why couldn't she find the courage to tell him? She gripped tightly onto her hem of her skirt and bit her quivering lips.
Before she could decide what she should do, her teacher finally came in and settled everyone down. And for the rest of the period, Aoko decided to push those thoughts to the back of her mind and focus in class instead.
.o.
And it obviously failed.
For the entire morning, she wasn't even listening in class. But it wasn't just her. Keiko often sent a few quick glances at her once in a while. Even at her seat, she could hear soft whispering and squealing from Haruka's direction and she was right when she went and confirmed it. As for Kaito, he slept for the first two period and pretended to listen for the remaining ones until lunch break.
When the lunch bell rang, everyone scrambled from the seats to get their lunch or to find their friends from other classes. Only a few remained behind to eat their lunch made from home, including Aoko.
"Hmmm, should I buy the cheese or the ham bread?" Kaito tapped his chin lazily.
Aoko opened her lunch box before glancing up at Kaito who was facing the window with a small frown.
"You're choosing a bread like you're choosing a house." Aoko rolled her eyes.
He spun around and peered into her lunch box. "Let me have some of that so I don't need to waste any time thinking what to buy."
Aoko snatched her lunch away. "You're making an excuse, aren't you? You just don't want to queue to buy your bread."
"Ah... You know me so well?"
"Eh Kuroba-kun? Why are you still here?"
Kaito glanced up, so did Aoko as they stared at the two girls that were staring back at them as well.
"Then where should I be?" He quirked an eyebrow at their classmates. Aoko immediately recognized the girls as Haruka's friends.
"Haruka-chan is waiting for you at the rooftop!" One girl exclaimed.
"Yeah and you're still... here?!" The other gave an incredulous look before she pulled him away from his desk and the first girl helped too. Aoko watched the scene in silence as Kaito continued making a fuss about how revenge was never the answer while the two girls continued pushing him out of the class. She could hear his faint voice but in just a few seconds, she couldn't anymore.
Aoko would be laughing out loud if she watched the scene again, provided that the reason he was being pushed to the rooftop wasn't to be confessed at.
When Aoko was getting used to the suddenly quiet classroom, Keiko walked through the door and glanced around before jogging over to Aoko's seat with her bread.
"Kuroba-kun went?"
"Yeah." Aoko didn't feel like explaining that he was forced to do so. It didn't make any difference anyway.
"You... didn't stop him?"
Aoko stared up at Keiko and she stared back. Her eyes widened by a fraction before she looked down at her food, suddenly feeling full. What rights did she have to stop him from going anywhere?
Keiko dragged Kaito's chair and sat beside Aoko, pushing her spectacles up her nose solemnly. "There's nothing to be worry about, Aoko. Like I said, I can't imagine Kaito being with any-"
"You may not be able to imagine it, but I can." Aoko glanced up at her best friend. "I can imagine him with every other girls in the world, except me. I'm just his best friend, Keiko. Nothing more."
"Aoko..." Keiko's hand slowly curled into a fist. "I'm sorry Aoko. I should have just ignored Haruka-chan's request... Even if Kuroba-kun have or doesn't have a girlfriend, the fact that you liked him stays the same!"
"W-What! Keiko! I don't like him!" Aoko cried out, quickly looking around the class. Luckily, none of their classmates who stayed behind were interested in their conversation at all.
Keiko shook her head. "I may be wearing spectacles but I'm not blind."
"Keiko-"
"You need to have more confidence in yourself." She placed her hand on Aoko's shoulder. "You always regard yourself so little. Don't you think you deserve better sometimes?"
"Deserving better and being able to deserve someone is two different things." Aoko sighed before she forced herself to smile again. Even if she couldn't cheer herself up, she needed to show a smile to reassure her friend. "I'm lucky enough to be his best friend already."
"Kuroba-kun is the lucky one. Not you." Keiko pouted and spread out her arms to hug Aoko and the latter accepted it wholeheartedly. They stayed in that comforting position for a while before they broke the hug a few seconds later.
"Well, who cares about that guy?" Aoko grinned before looking down at Keiko's bread. "Is that something new on the menu?"
"Yeah. Flame cheese ham and turkey. The word flame cheese caught my attention so I guess no harm trying."
"The lady at the cafeteria always likes to give really interesting names to her breads."
"My exact thoughts!" Keiko exclaimed as she gazed down at her bread. "I wonder what names she gave to her children."
They began making up fanciful and ridiculous names on the spot, laughing at how horrible their imagination was and when Aoko thought she could finally just forget about today and all those stupid feelings and thoughts, Kuroba Kaito, the reason for all those weird feeling in her chest suddenly appeared through their classroom door.
"Kuroba-kun!" Keiko's eyes lit up and Aoko turned, watching Kaito walking towards them.
"Eh... so you bought bread?"
"What did you say?" Keiko showed her nice set of clean teeth as she stared at Kaito.
"Say what?"
Keiko gave a pointed look. "You know what I'm talking about."
Kaito looked at Keiko for a moment before turning to face Aoko and she quickly glanced away, feigning oblivious. "How did you know?" He spoke.
"Don't mind that!" Keiko waved him off excitedly. "But judging that you are alone and Haruka-chan is nowhere to be found... you rejected her?"
Kaito shrugged indifferently.
"Why did you reject her?" Keiko gasped.
Kaito made a face. "Did you get that interrogating disease from Hakuba or something?"
"Don't try to avoid my questions." She wagged her finger at him.
Until now, Aoko didn't realize that she had been holding onto her breath the entire time. In just two days, her chest had been going through all these unnecessary and aches and Aoko didn't even know how relief she could ever feel in life until today happened.
Her cheeks were actually tired from trying to smile too much previously, but now her lips twitched and a smile was formed on its own.
"Well I'm honored that she likes me," He ruffled his tousled hair, "but I don't have any feelings for her, so yeah."
It was definitely harsh to be rejected and Aoko knew that Haruka should be upset or even crying in disappointment when her feelings were unreciprocated. But Aoko couldn't find any sadness within in to take pity on Haruka. She lowered her gaze and stared at her shoes, feeling disgusted at herself all of the sudden. She would be lying if she said she wasn't happy that Kaito rejected Haruka, but that very act was the only ever selfish part of Aoko and she couldn't help it at all even if she tried.
Her nails dug deeper into her arms. I'm sorry Haruka-chan.
"Oh, Ahouko."
Aoko looked up and glowered at that nickname but remained silent to let him continue what he wanted to say.
"Is this the reason why you asked me yesterday?"
She blinked, anger immediately vanished from her eyes. "What reason?"
"Whatever. It's over anyway." Kaito sighed before his gaze fell upon the funny looking bread Keiko was holding. "What flavor is that?" He pointed out.
"Flame cheese ham and turkey." Keiko answered.
"Whoa serious?! Now I don't have to choose between ham or cheese anymore."
"Are you practicing selective hearing?" Aoko rolled her eyes. "It's Flame cheese ham and turkey."
"Does it even matter?" Kaito waved Aoko off. "It looks so good too."
"Well, that's true though." Aoko bit her lips and stared at the food in Keiko's hand.
"Yeah, exactly." Kaito nodded and slightly bent down to level his head with Aoko's. His hand gesturing animatedly at the bread. "Don't you feel like buying it?"
"Kinda."
"Then go and buy before it runs out." Kaito swiftly picked Aoko's lunch box from her table before running out of the class. "I guess I can take this then!"
"Kuroba Kaito!" Aoko slammed the table and stood up from her seat while Keiko just shook her head. "Your tricked me again! Give me back my lunch!"
Of course he didn't listen to her and she had to chase him around the school, like usual.
A/n:
Actually planned to write something short and more focused on Aoko and Kaito's relationship, as a breather for the previous two heavy chapters but ended up writing another 8k words chapter omggggg ahhh. I'm so sorry for making it so long but I couldn't help it.
But well, hope you guys like it! Reviews are very very very very appreciated hehehehe