It had been long since Aoko dreamt of something pleasant, which in this case, was her mother.

She couldn't see herself anywhere in her dream, or anyone else in particular. Just her mother, smiling at a distant on a plain field. The same gentleness from her smile, the twinkle in her soft eyes, those photos that were left behind helped Aoko to remember those things about her mother.

Though the dream seemed like it lasted for a few seconds, it was already morning when Aoko woke up.

She sat on her bed for a few minutes, contemplating what that dream was all about until her door quietly creaked open and her father's head popped in.

"You're finally awake."

"What time is it?" She rubbed her eyes.

He entered the room and sat on the edge of her bed. "Nearing 12."

"That's... a record." Aoko breathed out. She glanced at her curtains, wondering whether she should share the dream she had to her dad. They never really talked much about her mother, saved for the days when it was her birthday or death anniversary. Other than that, there was nothing.

Aoko didn't really mind, because she knew there were no words to describe those fondest yet little memories she had with her mother. Besides, not talking about it saved her tons of heartache, and she was sure it saved her father's tons of it too.

Instead, she turned back to her father and showed a smile. "I didn't have any nightmares." It sounded more like a question than a statement. Well, even Aoko couldn't believe it for a second, neither did her father. But what happened, did happen.

"No," he gave a short pause. "You didn't."

Aoko smiled. "Then no consultation."

Now he gave a longer pause and she gave a raised an eyebrow. Defeated, he nodded.

"No consultation."

She grinned like a winner. It was only after a mere second when Aoko realized something was off. She tightened her grip on her warm covers before tilting her head. "Anyway, how did I..." Was the meteor shower all a dream as well?

Her father seemed to know what she meant. "Kaito-kun brought you back."

Aoko widened her eyes. So last night wasn't a dream? It made her happy instantly, but the answer actually lead her to more questions. "He did? How?"

"Carry you of course."

"B-But how did he carry me?" Aoko gasped. Although she suffered malnutrition from those days, the times she was in the hospital and at home covered up most of the weights she had lost. Worse of all, she was pretty sure she had over-eaten and gained a couple of pounds instead.

"Piggyback." Her father didn't seem to notice her fears. "You must be really exhausted. It was like you could sleep through an earthquake, though your snoring could have been the cause of the earthquake. "

Now Aoko was clearly mortified. "Snoring? I don't snore."

"Kaito-kun can be the witness. He was the one that commented about the earthquake, by the way."

Aoko would have flipped the bed if Kaito was around to see her anger, but she was more worried about her snoring than the earthquake remark Kaito said, even in front of her father. "Yo-You mean he was present when I was snoring?!"

"You were already snoring when he piggybacked you."

Now she wished she could just dig a hole somewhere and hibernate forever. She couldn't imagine herself on Kaito's back, snoring all the way as he carried her heavy body from the park to her house. She slumped back on her bed and pulled the covers over her head, giving a muffled scream.

Her father sighed and pat on her bed roughly. "Get up soon, the porridge is turning cold." With that, he left her room.

It wasn't until ten minutes of screaming than Aoko managed to crawl herself out of bed and head to the bathroom. She swore to herself that she would not see Kaito for this week, or not until when she completely forgotten about this incident. Though she wasn't sure if she was able to do either both; able to ignore Kaito if he did contact her, or able to forget about this humiliation until forever.

.o.

It didn't take Aoko long before she forgotten her promise to never see Kaito until her embarrassment died down and agreed to meet him during the final week of holiday. A new cafe in the middle of the town recently opened and the reviews were amazingly good.

When both of them reached, the queue was long, but it didn't stop them from wanting to try the food. And with Kaito's tricks and pranks, the queue was cut shorter and shorter until they were already ahead within a solid ten minutes. Aoko chided him for that, though secretly she was a little glad to be the head of the line. Her feet were aching from standing on the train.

"Table for?"

"Two please."

The waiter brought then in to the window seat and they settled themselves quickly, hoping to cool themselves for a bit. Although it was near the end of their summer break, the heat still didn't go away.

"What are you picking?"

Aoko tapped her chin as she continued browsing the menu. "I want to try the chocolate mousse."

"Hmm..."

The pictures were too pretty and distracting for Aoko to notice a figure stepping towards their table. When the shadow casted over her menu, blocking some light from seeing the cute cupcakes, she glanced up, wanting to tell the waiter or waitress they weren't really ready to order.

But she couldn't say anything since the lady wasn't even looking at her anyway.

"Sh-Shinichi?"

Kaito, who was also distracted by the menu, glanced up at Aoko before looking over at the sudden intruder standing by their table. He blinked and blinked again.

"Uhh... what?"

The lady slammed her hand onto the table and Aoko almost heard a crack. She was pretty sure the sound didn't come from a bone but rather the ceramic table instead. She gulped and tilted her head over to the lady, hoping to get her attention.

"Can we help you?" Aoko squeaked.

She turned and glared hard at Aoko, but her face fell before she looked away shamefully. Her beautiful purple eyes, Aoko noticed, turned to glower back at Kaito. "So you've missed my birthday party two days ago, saying you're in the middle of Africa on a very difficult case, and now you're here with another girl? You stupid detective jerk!"

"Ran-chan!"

Another lady with a ponytail rushed to the raging lady's side and grabbed onto her arm. "S-So sorry about that ya! She's in a very bad mood today cos' of some stuff ya!" She gave an apologetic bow over at Aoko before looking at Kaito, wanting to give a bow as well but she stopped in her track.

"Kudo-kun?"

"Is there something wrong?" A waiter finally interrupted. It was then Aoko realized the whole cafe became quiet because of their table. She wasn't sure what to say, at least not to the waiter when she didn't even know what was wrong.

"Hold up a second." Kaito shove the menu to his side. "I'm not Kudo-kun. Neither am I Shinichi. I'm Kuroba Kaito. You've mistaken me for someone else."

Aoko thought it was a good time to speak up. "I-I can vouch for that." She said. The strong-looking girl spun her head to look at her for confirmation. Although this lady had beautiful features, nice hair, great body... a girl that Kaito would surely fall in love with, she sure was just as strong and scary as she looked. That, Aoko wasn't sure if it fits Kaito's taste.

"You're not... Shinichi?" The girl narrowed her eyes.

"Do you want me to show you my ID?"

"Ran-chan, I don't think he's lyin' to us ya."

The lady named Ran lifted her hand away from their table and cooled down a whole lot more than before. She showed a smile, one that did not reached her eyes and began apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry for the ruckus caused. I must have mistaken."

Kaito pursed his lips.

"It's okay." Aoko managed a soft laugh and the other friend quickly brought Ran back to their table, which was not far from theirs. The waiter left shortly and the cafe was bustling back to life again. The only difference was both the intruder's and their table became so cold and quiet than Aoko thought summer was over ages ago.

Pretending to look at the menu, Aoko flipped a page and took a tiny peek at Kaito, who wasn't saying a word but staring ahead. If the menu wasn't blocking her chest, Aoko would have thought he was checking out her boobs. Then again, he did mention they were still as flat as her back just an hour ago when they met.

"Earth to Kuroba Kaito."

It was that easy to just snap his thoughts away. Were his thoughts as fragile as it looked? He glanced away and then brought the menu back on the table and began flipping.

"What's going on?" Aoko mustered the courage to speak up again.

"What what's going on?"

"That girl seemed to know you."

"What are you talking about?" Kaito waved her off. "This is the first time we met."

"Maybe you never meet her, but she knows you."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "I know I'm popular but not till this extent."

She rolled back her eyes, even harder than him. Aoko gave a quick glance over at the other table before casting her gaze back at Kaito. "The gaze she gave you seemed opposite of what you said." She recognized those gaze as much as she seen from movies and TV shows, and sometimes, ever herself.

Maybe this was the reason why Kaito was always busy with his nothing. He was finding girls outside of school, like what she guessed long long time ago. Aoko suddenly narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Why don't you go and say hello or something." Aoko drawled. "I'll just pretend I've never went out with Kuroba Kaito today and you can act as your second identity. Kudo Shinpachi."

"It's Kudo Shinichi."

"Yeah, go ahead. Kudo Shinichi."

"I'm Kuroba Kaito, Ahouko." Kaito muttered and a chill went down Aoko's spine. "And just shut up about this and order. We'll miss the last off-peak train thanks to your rambling."

Aoko knew she was nudging him closer and closer to the end of his patience line. This was something that occurred once in a blue moon but it wasn't something she was looking forward to see so often.

It was suffocating for Aoko to enjoy any of the delicious treats when she felt like she was being watched. At least the main target wasn't her, but having someone gawking at Kaito made Aoko just as uncomfortable too, moreover when the person was a beautiful lady. And when Aoko officially dropped the subject, Kaito was nonchalant all the way, giving comments about the food like nothing ever happened and eating like he was the hungriest man on earth. This made things all much weirder.

Aoko felt a little better after the two ladies left the cafe a short while later, but that tiny uneasy feeling was still haunting Aoko even when she tried to push all those thoughts to the back of her mind and enjoy her day today. Something was off, yet she wasn't sure what it was. That stupid made-up story about Kaito's second identity...? It was supposed to be meant as a joke right? It was already weird that this thought appeared in her head.

Still, Aoko decided it would be better if she kept the rest of her unnecessary comments to herself. She didn't feel lucky enough to test Kaito's limits today, though that was what she always did when they were bickering about things that didn't matter.

.o.

"I've heard of what happened over your summer holiday from my father." Hakuba gave an impression like he was reciting a tragic poem. "Pardon me for not being around to help."

Aoko afforded a sincere smile from her desk. "You're not to blame, Hakuba-kun." It was something she couldn't forget or get over, but the scare from it grew less enough for her to smile naturally without having to force it anymore. "And anyway," she stood up from her seat and stepped a little closer to the detective, whispering into his ear. "I'd appreciate if you don't let anyone else know about it. Saved for Kaito, no one else knew."

"It isn't something pleasant to tell anyone too."

Finally, maybe someone did understand why Aoko liked to keep some things to herself. Why bother telling other people when it wasn't going to solve anything but increase the burden of others? "Thanks Hakuba-kun."

At that moment, their eardrums were almost destroyed by a loud GOOD MORNING and before Aoko knew it, Kaito split the two apart and dropped his bag unceremoniously on his desk. Aoko rolled her eyes while Hakuba swatted the part of his clothes where Kaito knocked him over, like he just touched something dirty.

"Good morning, Kuroba-kun." Hakuba said dryly.

"What the hell is your problem?" Aoko huffed.

"Why do you like to complain so much?" Kaito sneered. "You called me ill-mannered for not saying any greetings. Now that I'm making the effort, you're being angry about it."

"You're not saying your greetings properly."

"Oh Aoko, it's just the first day of school and you two are already fighting?" Keiko and the rest of her friends chuckled from the other side of the classroom. "Haven't fought enough during the holidays?"

Aoko would shout her answer back to Keiko that no, she hadn't because Kaito was just asking for it, until she realized it wasn't an actual question but more of a teasing remark. She puffed up her cheeks and stuck out her tongue at her friends before looking back at Hakuba, deciding to ignore Kaito for the moment. She needed to clarify something before the teacher comes in anytime.

"There's something I want to ask you Hakuba-kun."

"Go ahead."

"Shhhhh! Rude! Can't you see I'm studying? Talk somewhere else."

"Fine. We will." Aoko snapped back at her oh-so-considerate table partner and she pulled Hakuba away, who willingly let her. She noticed the growing annoyance from Kaito as the latter watched them walking nearer to the side of the window, far enough from Kaito to prevent him from eavesdropping. She lowered her voice, just in case.

"Have you heard of anyone named Kudo Shinpachi?"

There was a short pause. "You mean Kudo Shinichi?"

"Uh." Aoko blushed. "Yeah, Kudo Shinichi."

"I've never met him in person, but he's rather famous." Hakuba chuckled and Aoko thought his tone sounded a little bit sour. "Detective of the East, that's his other name."

"Detective?" So it means she didn't hear wrongly, back when she was at the cafe.

"Yeah, he disappeared and rarely or never appear anymore. If you search his name on the web, you should be able to find some things about him."

The thought of researching someone online didn't come to her mind. She never know this Kudo person was that famous to be found on online search. The only person she ever did, other than for projects and historical figures, was Kaitou Kid, and the mere thought about that thief suddenly got the hair on Aoko's arm to stand. She shook her head inwardly.

"So this guy does exist?"

Hakuba raised an eyebrow.

Aoko chuckled and scratched the side of her cheeks nervously. "Ah, it's nothing. Just pretend that you didn't hear that."

"Why did you ask about him?"

She knew there was no way Hakuba would let her off so easily after her weird and random question. "I just got a feeling you'd know him."

"Your gut-feeling is amazing if that's the case."

That's not a good news to hear. She always thought that too, but lately, she wished her intuitions were wrong. Aoko glanced at Kaito before giving a smile back at Hakuba. "Thanks."

"You didn't answer me though."

"We'll save that for next time." Aoko gestured her chin over at the entrance when their home-room teacher entered. It was pure luck that she could avoid that question, but she wasn't counting on whether Hakuba will let her go just because their teacher came. It seemed he did and he went back to his seat like what she hoped for. She followed suit as well and went back to her seat with quick steps.

Surprisingly, Kaito wasn't asleep while his book was open and this might have been the first time Aoko seen such scenario. He almost seemed like he was studying, if the scribbles on his books were actually words instead of doodles and messy circles.

"What's up with you suddenly, getting cranky on the first day of school?"

"Huh? How am I cranky?" Kaito laughed. "It's the start of my brand new life for a brand new term."

What on earth must she do to have the chance to crack open his head and read what on earth was going through his mind?! She crossed her arms and dug into her seat uncomfortably. To think that people says woman's heart and mind are the hardest thing to decipher, wait till they meet Kuroba Kaito; the hardest person for Aoko to love and understand.

.o.

The first week of school went by quickly, and finally after she managed to get her work done and her time table scheduled for all the next up-coming activities and tests, she rewarded herself to watch the TV for a while.

When she switched on the television, almost every channel, except for the animal documentary, were talking about Kaitou Kid's heist. She almost forgotten all about it, and her best source of relaxation just had to remind her about it.

Aoko watched the screen for a little longer than she usually did, one reason was she really didn't want to switch it off and ended up more bored than now. She propped up her knee and watched the reporter shouting animatedly about the whole ordeal as the crowd of fans behind him continued cheering like it was the end of the world.

"It had been fifteen minutes passed the time Kaitou Kid promised in his note. Will he succeed? Or will he-"

She leaned forward towards the television. Come on, just once. Just for once it'd work.

All of the sudden, the crowd began screaming even louder than before and the camera zoomed right at the sky as white wings glided away from the building.

"It seemed Kaitou Kid got the jewel and has escaped from the building!" The reporter yelled and the camera zoomed into at the couple of helicopters following behind the glider. "The Phantom thief is now heading towards south. Will the police manage to apprehend him this time?!"

Aoko heavily laid back onto her sofa and dumped a decorative pillow onto her lap. She pounded on the soft lump a couple of times and rolled her eyes angrily at the news reporter, who was clearly a Kid's fan as he continued singing praises for that criminal. Why was he praising Kid for his act and calling him brilliant? This reporter should be fired!

She took in a deep breath and shut the television off, throwing the pillow and remote far across the couch and lifted herself off her seat. It would be good to sleep off the hate, but Aoko was fuming with energy and it was impossible to sleep right now. Trying to calm herself down, she mindlessly walked around her quiet house, before finding herself out in her front yard and slowly on the streets of her neighborhood. She now felt better after being away from the empty house.

When she was halfway down the streets, she realized she was only clad in her pajamas; loose comfy pants and baggy T-shirt. Aoko thought about going home instead of embarrassing herself in public, then again, she realized she never really have any reputation to begin with. She wasn't a beauty, or had the best figure. And it was late, no one would notice her.

There wasn't anywhere Aoko could think of going. So she wander and wander, until she noticed her feet were bringing her to somewhere familiar yet foreign at the same time. It wasn't exactly a Deja Vu feeling; she had been here before, but not often to remember clearly what route to take to reach where she wanted to go.

Miraculously, it took her the first try before she found herself at the place she longed for. The big field where Kaito brought her to see the meteor showers a few weeks back.

Aoko smiled. She first took a step into the big field, feeling a little breeze passing by. It was extremely dark around this area, with no lamppost around to illuminate anything for her to see anything clearly beyond an arm distance. What she could see were the stars above her head, shining brightly and making her feel like she was protected. Her mother must have been one of the stars, maybe that biggest one closest to the moon-

She blinked and lowered her gaze when she noticed a slight movement across the field. It was then she realized there was something, or someone there with her. She held her breath, her hands began to shake.

A small and growing fear began creeping from the back and to her chest. Aoko suddenly realized how dark and intimidating her surroundings were. The stars weren't the center of her focus anymore. No matter how comforting they were when they shone confidently and brightly in the pool of blackness, the distance between them was something she couldn't imagine and this reminded her that she was all alone.

Then all of the sudden, she noticed a tiny glint of light in front of her. She narrowed her eyes, curiosity overwhelming her fears all of the sudden. She stood still in her tracks, not sure whether to step forward or back.

It was then she realized she recognized the thing, no- person. She recognized the person in front of her, the person who caused her to wander out in the streets just because she was too angry to sleep.

"K-Kaitou Kid."

The movement of the jewel stopped and the glint disappeared. The white hat wasn't where it was supposed to be, but in that second when her mouth moved on its own, the white hat was back on its position and the movement of a large cloth could be heard. Now it was even clearer that the person in front of her was Kaitou Kid after he showed most of his whiteness. He must have took down some parts of his costume to camouflage well enough in the darkness.

"Is that you Nakamori-san?"

At least Kaitou Kid didn't scare her, not enough as those men that made her toss and turn and wake up in nightmares. He wasn't that scary to that extent. He was just... mysterious.

No. Mysterious wasn't a good thing. That totally did not increase the cool factor like what Keiko always said.

Aoko took a large step forward, but there was still quite a big distance between the two of them. "It's me."

"It's dark. You shouldn't be out here alone. Not safe for a fine lady like you."

"Why do you care?" She challenged.

"I wouldn't want your father to be distracted again. It's no fun when the cat is looking for its kitten and delaying the chase."

Fun? Aoko wasn't sure what kind of emotion she should show, though not like the thief could see her anyway. She owed him, again, for saving her. She owed him a lot of things. But the way he treated everything like they were some kind of adventure... fun... joy... That was why Aoko hated. She always felt Kaitou Kid never treat her father seriously, yet her father put all his life and effort into the plans of capturing the thief. Aoko could feel the humiliation burning her skin.

She shouldn't have come out. She was now more angrier than before.

Aoko gritted her teeth. "Just give up your stupid stealing so the chase can be over!"

"It this how you're going to convince me to stop stealing?" He chuckled. "It's been a long time since we met like this, I was expecting something better."

"This is not a reunion."

"I never say it was."

She stomped forward and she could hear the rustling of grass as Kid took the same number of steps back. "I wouldn't approach me if I were you."

"Why not? I think it'll be great to have my hands around your neck. And I need to approach you to do that."

"That's murder, Nakamori-san."

"I'm glad you know."

"I'm dangerous, Nakamori-san. You shouldn't even be talking to me now."

"Then why don't you glide your ass away?!" Aoko yelled. This was the place Kaito- Kaito... brought her. This was the place she came once and she treasured it so much. Why should she leave just because he was there? Why was he here? Why was he ruining everything?

There was a short pause and Aoko scoffed. Hah. Was he loss for words now? What she said did make sense anyway. He was always the one who leave her when he felt like it. She was never given the chance to stop talking, or to not approach him. She tried chasing after him, but he choose to approach her. She had so much to yell at him about, but he was the one who choose when to end the conversation by flying off.

He was always the one in control. The almighty Kaitou Kid.

The short silence was interrupted by the same sound of rustling grass, but this time, the figure was coming closer instead of further away from her. Under the help of the moonlight, Aoko was able to see Kid much better than before. His hat was tipped low, white cape flowing behind him like usual. Not until when he stood just an inch away from her, she couldn't see those things she always noticed when she was far away from him anymore.

Instead, she noticed other things.

His monocle was extremely clean and clear from any dust. He didn't smell like sweat or any fancy perfume like what she thought. He just smelt... nice. And his messy lock of hair that covered his forehead-

"You're not afraid I'll hurt you?" His voice was cold and low, nothing like what was supposed to come from a playful and proud Kaitou Kid.

Her baggy shirt just made her look bloated from the beginning, so when she tried puffing out her chest, her effort was a waste. Her confidence dropped a little and it didn't take too long for her to feel the nervousness kicking in. She remembered the first time she was trapped in a room with Kaitou Kid, but this time, the feeling was a thousand times worse.

There wasn't any words she could say and her mind was just a swirl of lines, as if her brain was instructed to process like a fish. She no longer could concentrate on those tiny yet important details she see about Kaitou Kid, not his eyes, not his nose, not anything. She only understood that Kaitou Kid was standing right in front of her.

"Look at you. You can't even speak." He whispered the obvious. "You should learn to avoid and ignore what is dangerous. You're too reckless and careless, the worse combination to screw yourself in any situation. You shouldn't have called me from the start. I'm bigger, stronger and more powerful than you. Why are you challenging me?"

Was Kaitou Kid feeling a little more narcissistic today? He thought he was the best, better than everyone, better than her of course. He sure was, but in a way that didn't make her feel any more intimidated than she should. He carried card guns, pink smoke bombs and poker cards. He never harm her. He never did. And he told her that he didn't want her hurt before.

Now, it sounded more like he was reprimanding her, but his words were going around in circles and Aoko didn't know what exactly was he referring to, and how he knew anything to refer to at all. Did he know how she literally approached the doorstep of those men in trench coats, got caught and ended up breaking an arm? Did he know how she headed to the van filled with men, ignoring the meaning of the word dangerous and ended up being kidnapped for several days?

Still, she couldn't say anything.

She felt his gloved hands running up her arms slowly and that entire arm of hers felt like it was about to break apart from her body. She was numbed to the point where she thought she might as well be paralyzed. "Right now, I can tie up up, just like those men did." Kaitou Kid murmured. "Gag you. Throw you aside. Pull your hair. Trap you-"

His words acted out the scenes in her head on its own. And it was only when she couldn't continue to see those images anymore, she finally found her strength and gave a loud shout.

"Enough!" Aoko pushed him hard and he stumbled a few steps back, not enough to let him fall on his butt. She wished she had the strength to do that, but this was what her currently trembling and numbed hands could do best.

He replied back with his silence.

"You're the worst." She growled, finally able to find her voice. Her ignorance towards her own safety was her problem, so the way he was worried about it made her felt confused. Is he so caring to everyone? Still, she couldn't forgive him for doing that to her, despite how he was trying to prove his point that everyone around her could be dangerous, even himself. He was going too far.

The next sentence came out from her mouth as soon as the previous one did.

"I never want to see you again."

He surely wanted this outcome, didn't he?

Aoko rubbed the part of her arm where she remembered his hand touched, digging her nails into her skin before spinning her body around and dashing out of the field. In mere minutes, she was out of the park and into the lit-up street. Everything should have been clear to her eyes, yet everywhere was still foggy and blur. She blinked a couple of times, and when those accumulated tears rolled down her cheeks, her views were clear again.

She cried into the sleeve of her arm as she walked all the way home.