The simple red gem originally didn't look worthy enough to be called the Goddess of the Moon. It sounded too majestic for something like this. But now, Kaito understood why.
Diamonds reflect light, but he was sure the one he held now was glowing on its own. Out of the hundreds of heists he held, Kaito had never seen such a beautiful jewel before. Standing before the large window on the third floor of the building, he watched the red diamond in his hand, shining and radiating enough warmth to seep past his gloves and felt on the tips of his fingers. The bright moon hanging in the sky was long forgotten, all Kaito- Kaitou Kid could see was the glowing red Goddess of the Moon.
His lips twitched.
Pandora.
His ears suddenly picked up a faint sound of steady and fast footsteps that didn't remind him of the police force or even the Snake's pathetic underlings. Kaito glanced behind his back and finally noted a gang of men turning to his directions. With guns.
He ran down the corridor and purposely turned down a corner that led to a dead end. Despite how stupid it seemed, there was a vent readied for him to use to get to safety. No matter who his pursuers were, be it the police or his enemies, he was going to execute his escape plans accordingly anyway.
When he finally reached the said dead end, he whirled around, his cape swirled behind him beautifully before it settled on his back. He raised his hand high and showed the jewel.
The chasers stopped just a few meters away and aimed their pistols at him. Now that Kaito had the time to notice, they were all clad in black coats, a much darker colour than what Snake wore.
"Surrender the gemstone to us now."
Kaito already checked it well enough, but of course he wouldn't admit that. "Allow me to have the honor to see if this is what we want."
"We will do it." They continued to point their guns threateningly at him and Kaito began waving the gemstone around his body playfully.
"If you want to aim," He smiled. "I would recommend a sniper."
The leader smirked. "We already kept that in mind."
On the cue, a small yet shiny glint suddenly shone in the opposite building, which Kaito caught it as an ominous sign. He gave a sidelong glance before noticing a red dot steadily climbing up from the ground and to his pants, suit and then-
Kaito spun around and fell to a safe position as the large window before him blasted into million pieces and the wall behind him cracked by the impact of a bullet. Just a millisecond late, that bullet would be in his head instead. He scurried to his feet again and popped out a couple of his handy-dandy smoke bombs and slammed them down on the ground.
As the coughing and irritated yells erupted the corridor, he used his card gun and knocked down the ceiling vent above him and jumped, climbing up to his safety. At least here, he's safe from the sniper that was possibly opposite the building. Feeling the gem inside his suit pocket, he hastily crawled in the vent. If he remembered correctly, which he always did, this vent would lead him to the fifth room on the third floor, at least somewhere far and safe from the commotion he created. But it wouldn't be long till they realize he escaped through this way either.
His enemies today, Kaito noted, were much alert and quick, as if there was a careful and thought out plan being put in place rather than random bullets flying all around. He kept that thought stored somewhere in his mind before putting his full attention on trying to reach his escape route.
But he couldn't.
"Shit-"
A tiny red flash suddenly began shining at the other end of the tunnel, and by the time the red flash appeared for the seventh time, Kaito didn't have the chance to prepare fully well for the full blast that blew up the whole vent. All he could do before it happened was to scoop out a deflated air bag he prepared beforehand, but obviously not for this. When the airbag was inflated to the width of the tunnel, he felt the impact of the blast and crashed down, along with the entire tunnel of the vent and fell hard onto the second floor. Instantly, dust, smoke and the fire created by the explosion began spreading from the level to everywhere else.
Kaito choked and wheezed, feeling the sharp pain in the back of his head. His hat was nowhere to be found, and his cape was caught under a large debris. He abandoned his cape and tried to crawl up to his feet, but he couldn't see where he was going. But first, his gloved hands quickly reached out to the chest to confirm if the gem was still kept in his pocket.
After making sure it was, he continued his plan of escape, though obviously it was pretty messed up now. At least he still know where he was, just from the blue prints he memorized. All he had to do was to head straight and down the stairs to the ground floor and he would be out of the building.
Out. Out. Out. I. Need to. Get out.
He tugged onto his white suit, preparing to change out into a police officer uniform to blend in much more easily. But when his foot stepped right on the stairs, he slipped into a sudden unconsciousness and tumbled all the way down.
.o.
Aoko yawned.
After she managed to keep her mouth shut, she wiped her weary eyes and looked around before realizing she was in a car, with a familiar grey suit spread out on her body. She slowly got up from her lying position as the suit pooled on her lap. Dazed, she blinked, and blinked again before her hand shot up to the right side of her neck.
"What in the world...?" Aoko frowned to herself. A sudden flash of light blinded her for a second and she squinted her eyes to stare at a passing ambulance that was roaring to a stop not far from the car she was in.
Her eyes widened.
Aoko hastily shoved the suit away, which she finally recognized was her father's and jumped out of the car. Pushing away a couple of on-lookers who were around to view the commotion, she rushed to the ambulance and watched a stretcher being pushed right inside.
"W-Wait!" She grabbed onto the door of the ambulance just in time before it closed.
The paramedic shot her an annoyed look. "The patient is injured, if you would please."
In that split second, Aoko managed to catch a glimpse of the injured man inside. It was someone she didn't know.
"Sorry, really sorry." She let go and the door closed before her and the ambulance sped away in an instant. Whatever feeling that suddenly occurred to her, she had no idea, but the firemen yelling orders, worried comments passing around and all the other voices and echoes died around her.
She gazed down at her hand and remembered the monocle and Conan.
"I need to find them." Aoko muttered to herself as she jabbed her fist into the palm of her hand. "What if they're still inside?" With that horrifying thought, she quickly spun around, but her face was slammed into the chest of the man she wasn't hoping to expect at the moment.
"D-Dad!"
He returned her greeting with two narrowed eyes.
Before she let him speak, Aoko quickly interrupted. "Are there anyone else that are hurt?"
"None that are serious for immediate medical attention." He glanced at a group of people who were gathering at the side of the pavement, with a couple of first aid kit lying around. "Only a few Kaitou Kid fans were seriously hurt by the impact of small debris that flew out of the building during the explosion."
"What about inside?!" Aoko exclaimed.
"We found no casualties inside; everyone was out when the explosion occurred. This case is now handled by the Tokyo Police bomb squadron so-"
"No casualties?" Aoko widened her eyes. How was this possible? How on earth did the two of them... escape? Still skeptical, she tried to confirm again. "Really?"
Her father's frown deepened. "Except for you."
She glanced away briefly. "That's not what I meant..."
"What are you doing inside there, Aoko?" He snapped.
"I was worried!" She retorted, but her father's glare caused her to squirm in her position and her outburst died down instantly. "I...I'm sorry."
"Don't think about that stupid Halloween party anymore."
"W-What?"
"I've said it."
Aoko's throat stung. She bit her quivering lips and hung her head low just so that the tears wouldn't gather so quickly in her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said again. If Aoko had to think it through her father's perspective, she was clearly in the wrong and really had nothing to say. But Conan went in, and that Kaitou Kid... All those things she saw, how could she explain? There was nothing much she could say other than apologies.
"I don't want to hear that. And I'm still not allowing that party."
She silently wiped her tears away. "I get it."
Her father's walkie-talkie suddenly came to life as he muttered a few words into it before looking back at her again.
"Stay in the car. I'll get Sakata to send you home."
Aoko didn't have a say.
.o.
Half of the time Aoko was having a conversation with Kaito, he was usually on his phone, even during school hours as well and mostly, he would be browsing that stupid Kaitou Kid forum to look at the updated news of that thief. It especially irked Aoko whenever he ignored her and continued reading, even out loud at times. She wondered why she hadn't smashed his phone against a wall yet.
This was exactly why Aoko didn't understand why Kaito hadn't replied her text for a whole day when his phone was always with him. Yes, during the holidays, there were times when he ignored his phone for who-knows-what reason and wouldn't reply till very late at night or the next morning. But it was a normal school week, and it had been exactly a day since Aoko sent him a text message and he didn't reply.
Aoko stared at her phone screen, wondering if she said something wrong.
'Can we meet for a bit?'
She thought she needed to see him on that night of the explosion, heck, even when there was still school tomorrow. But he didn't reply, and she waited till it was three in the morning before she decided to sleep. For some reason, calling his phone never occur to her mind.
But he never come to school the next day. Her friends teased her about how she looked so concerned and worried, although she tried to deny everything. Hakuba didn't say much, but there was something in his face that doubled Aoko's worries.
It can't be...
Nobody understood the real troubles in her mind. They thought she was concerned because of silly reasons like how her husband had eloped with another girl, or some sort of made-up stories that Aoko couldn't bother to remember. She remembered Kaitou Kid's body in the fire, she remembered the man in cloaks armed with guns, and she remembered them shooting him.
She remembered many things about Kaitou Kid.
But he isn't Kaito.
As she walked home alone, her bag was filled with not just her homework sheets but Kaito's too. As his desk mate, typically, she was tasked to hand the papers to him. Without complain, she took the role and walked past her house and towards Kaito's.
Once Aoko reached his home, she knocked a moment and rang the bell a couple of times. When there were no sound coming from inside, she stood in her position for a long while before fishing out her ring with a number of keys hanging from it. It had been long, really long since Aoko used his house key to enter, and she recalled the unforeseen consequences from that day when they had that silent war. Aoko stared at the sole key in her hand before slotting it into the hole.
It wasn't like she didn't ask if he wanted the key back. She did, and he never give a reply. It was more like an indirect warning to not use it again without his permission, but it was still alright for her to keep it.
Now that it came to this moment, Aoko couldn't care less.
She turned the door knob and widened her eyes.
It was still lock.
Aoko pulled out the key and stared hard at it.
This was definitely the key to Kaito's house.
So this was really it. Aoko pursed her lips. He allowed me to keep the key, giving me some sort of an assurance. But the fact is, he changed the lock, making this key useless.
Was she half-expecting this?
But she remembered getting into Kaito's house on his birthday to surprise him... Aoko's memories were slowly seeping into her mind and something clicked. Because she wasn't intending to get on his bad side on such a special day, she asked Jii along and they went in together, with an excuse that she needed his help with the decoration. Now that she carefully think back, it wasn't her that opened the door. It was Jii.
Clutching tightly onto the key, she turned and threw it as far as she could, watching the metal flying in the air before bouncing onto the walls of Kaito's gate and landing onto the soft grass. Aoko turned and glared up at the house before her and dropped her schoolbag.
He's clearly underestimating me. She gritted her teeth.
Aoko stomped around the house and stood by the window of the kitchen. She gave a quick glance at the front gates and placed both of her hands at each side of the window, shaking it till it budge. After a few shakes, the window neatly came off and she placed it the ground as gently as she could before climbing inside the house.
She had been going in and out of his house when they were young, and hide and seek was the only thing they found enjoyable when there was nothing else to play. Aoko always lost since her best places were all discovered, not until the day when Kaito's father gave her a tip.
"Where is the place you'd go to the least?"
"...Outside?"
"Why?"
"Because Kaito would definitely know when I open the door."
"Then how about going out, but not through the door?"
That gave Aoko a new hope, but the bubbles were burst when realization dawned upon her that all the windows on the first floor of Kaito's home had grills. There was no way she could jump off from the second floor too. But Kuroba Toichi's smile, she remembered, didn't waver.
"Have you ever seen a detachable window?"
Ever since then, Kaito just couldn't get any straight wins and mock at Aoko anymore.
She carefully stepped onto the sink and jumped down evenly on the floor before dusting her school uniform. For the moment, she pushed back the importance of fixing that window and avoiding Kaito to know of this tiny secret she and his father shared to the back of her mind. There were many things she already planned to do, and she had no concern for other things.
Aoko headed up the stairs and swung open the door of Kaito's bedroom. She glanced around and found everything still in place, but there was no sign of Kaito, not like she was expecting him to be here anyway. Her eyes darted to the wall instead.
It was the frame of the respectable Kuroba Toichi.
Her fist loosened as she took a step and turned to face the portrait perfectly. Aoko admired this man and adored him like her second father. After his death, there was no one sadder than Kaito, but Aoko was in the third place, just after his mother.
Tentatively, she raised her hand towards the portrait and carefully stroke the large photo. Aoko sighed, before briefly wondering why Kaitou Kid's photo was in this important place that day. It was that exact moment when she felt the entire frame flipped under her slight pressure and in the next second, she was falling forward.
Aoko gave a loud yelp before her palms and knees came in contact with the ground. She winced in pain, feeling the soreness on her bruised hand and looked up at the suddenly lit up room.
Everything around her was white.
Slowly and steadily, Aoko stood up on her feet again, trying to ignore the painful feeling on her kneecap and continued scrutinizing around the vast room, one that was nearly the size or even bigger than Kaito's room.
"What in the world..." She gasped.
It was then she realized why the room was so white.
White hat. White suit. White pants. It was basically the whiteness that Kaitou Kid always wore at night.
Aoko felt her heart stopped beating.
She stood there for a very long time, her eyes still on the white suit. There wasn't just one attire, there were a couple of sets neatly kept in place inside the transparent wardrobe, as if this was a normal and frequent thing to wear.
"He-He's into cosplay, right?" Aoko chuckled. "N-Never know he had such a hobby."
Aoko bit her lips hard enough to nearly draw blood. Taking a huge breath, she slowly made her way to a large desk, with a large map hanging right above it. She never think she would ever see this scene other than from movies or television series.
The map was dotted with red threads all over the place. The strings were spread throughout the world; Germany, China, Australia, Britain and many more, but it all led to Japan. The pins that kept them all in place were all blue, saved for one.
Red.
The thread was led from Myanmar to Japan and Aoko understood why instantly. It wasn't just a random spot on Myanmar, it was exactly the point where the Goddess of the Moon was taken and then exhibited in Japan, here. She knew that because she researched it that night.
"He's never this hardworking before." Aoko's chortled out loud. "That stupid Kaito sure is researching the hell out of Kaitou Kid. He could just write a book dedicated to his findings!"
Her laughter faded away soon when her eyes left the map and was onto the next object that was stuck on the wall. Aoko really wondered how long was she going to continue to find excuses and lies to herself.
It was a monocle, pinned onto the wall with a card stuck in the middle of the four-leaf clover tag. When the tears started spilling out of her eyes, Aoko knew it was enough.
The monocle wasn't just any monocle. It had that same, lightning crack shape that Aoko recognized on the day she picked it up from the scene where Kaitou Kid crashed after the men in grey cloaks fired a couple of gun shots.
She knew she handed it to no one, no one but Kaitou Kid himself.
Aoko's trembling fingers touched the firm card on the wall and pluck it out, allowing the monocle to fall. Something in her gut made her flipped the card around. It was a blank card, but there were words on it. Rubbing the moisture out of her eyes, she squinted hard.
"Know the consequences."
The card gently slipped out of her fingers and fell.
What am I expecting all these time?
She turned her heels and dashed right through the frame, flipped it over forcefully and almost flung herself out of the secret room. She fell onto the floor again, this time in Kaito's bedroom and drops of tears hit the ground like rain, with the soft sound of pitter patter.
"Kuroba Kaito. H-He is Kaitou Kid." She continued repeating it in her head.
Aoko had no idea how much time had passed, but her legs had already grew numb by the time she was conscious and sensible enough to know that she should stop the pool of tears she was creating. She balled her fist and helped herself up to her feet and slowly made her way down the stairs and to the living room.
.o.
It took Kaito an ounce of effort before he could peel open his eyes. The bright light pierced his eyes uncomfortably as he shut them before mustering the courage to open again.
He blinked as he stared at the white ceiling before taking a deep breath and was expecting the smell of cinnamon and medicines. But there was none. He tilted his head and felt a sharp pain digging in the back of his head, causing him to jerk in his lying position.
"Don't move too much."
Kaito turned to the sound and stared at Conan, who was sitting on a chair beside him.
He wondered if things could get any weirder than this. "Are you watching me sleep?" He said hoarsely.
"I'm not a psycho like you." Conan spat. "You're struggling in your sleep a minute ago and showing signs of waking up. I'm just here to standby in case you disappear like always."
"Where am I?"
"My house. I took you back here."
Ignoring his warnings, Kaito shuffled his arms back and propped himself up on the bed. It took him a few seconds to do that, but he was glad Conan didn't help. The image of them being nice and courteous towards each other just didn't click well in his mind.
"How long am I out?" Kaito asked after he was in his sitting position.
"A day."
"A day?!" He couldn't help but hollered and threw the blanket away from his body. But the sudden pain in the back of his head stung him so bad Kaito had no choice but to stay in his position as his hand tried to massage his head to get the horrible feeling away.
Conan watched him quietly the entire time, as if he knew this would happen. He crossed his tiny arms. "Don't forget you're still a human. You're not a superman."
"And you're not my mother." Kaito muttered.
The boy narrowed his eyes. "You should be at least grateful that I saved you."
"I could have-"
"No, you cannot save yourself this time, and you know it." Conan gave a pointed look. "Besides, I'm not just talking about saving your ass."
Kaito really, really didn't want to play any guessing games today. He sighed out loud and gestured his head in a way to make Conan to continue what he had to say.
"Nakamori-san was there."
That sudden spike of energy lifted him up from his seat but he winced, and fell back onto the bed again. He tightened his grip around the back of his neck. "What the hell did you just say?"
"She was there, and about to uncover your identity by pulling off your monocle. I stopped her."
His words were not helping to solve his tension but to only add more unanswered questions. "How do you stop her?"
"I literally stopped her. I grabbed her hand before she could do what she wanted to do."
"And then? Just like that?"
Conan paused for a while and glanced away for a second that made Kaito narrowed his eyes. He leaned dangerously towards the detective.
"I tranquilized her, I needed her as a distraction too so I can get you out of there."
Kaito widened his eyes before grabbing Conan's bow tie and shaking the hell out of the small boy. "You bastard! You put her to sleep in that dangerous building?!"
"She's fine!" Conan tugged onto Kaito's wrists. "There was a rescue squad coming our way, and I made sure they got to her and took her out to safety before I dragged you out by another exit. I know exactly what I'm doing."
"No you don't. You risked her safety-"
"I'm doing it for your safety-"
"My safety doesn't matter!" Kaito yelled. "It doesn't matter, alright?!"
Conan watched him for a second and sighed, instantly releasing the tension that was hanging in the air.
"You're stupid."
Kaito loosened his grip around Conan's bow tie and slumped heavily on his bed. "If anything happens to her, I will never forgive myself. And there's nothing for me to blame on, not even on the-"
When those words left his mouth, Kaito's hand flew to his chest. He glanced down at a normal white shirt that didn't belong to him before he snapped his gaze to Conan.
"Give it to me."
"What." Conan said nonchalantly.
"The gemstone. Give it to me."
"I don't have it."
Kaito swiftly moved his hands over and fished out the small bulge that Conan was hiding in his suit. The brat tried to move away, but Kaito was faster. He had been in this trade for far too long to be challenged by a measly boy who only knew how to solve cases for the good.
The glowing gem was in his hand.
"I thought you'd be smarter and asked the Suzuki family to lock it up or something."
Conan narrowed his eyes. "You and I know fully well why I didn't."
Kaito lowered his gaze down at the red gem and watched the small light swirling in the core. It wasn't as bright like the time he saw at night, though it shouldn't be surprising. His eyes hardened like a stone and his grip turned tighter, squeezing the diamond as if he was trying to make a juice out of it.
"You deduced this gem as the Pandora but the enemies seemed to have considered it as well." Conan began his long-ass speech that Kaito was tired to hear. Detectives always had so much things to say. "If you want to do anything to it, you should consider the consequences of-"
From the start, he already blocked out whatever Conan was telling him. All he could understand from this stone in his hand was that his father died for this. And how much people were hurt because of this. And so much things he had to sacrifice for this. All for this stone.
Kaito suddenly brought the gem onto the table beside the bed and lifted a digital clock that was placed on it. He raised the heavy clock above his head, preparing for the impact.
It all happened very fast that Conan wasn't able to react, but someone else did; someone that Kaito knew had been standing by the door for some time.
"If you break that, I'll make sure you'll be sleeping for at least a week."
They turned their heads towards the voice of the intruder by the door of the room, and there was Haibara Ai, pointing a small pistol at Kaito with a high level of confidence that kids shouldn't have when they were handling guns.
Thinking Kaito was distracted, Conan whipped out his watch and aimed at him, but as usual, Kaito reacted faster again. He kicked his feet and flipped the blanket over Conan as the latter instantly missed his one and only shot he could use. The detective aggressively threw the cover off him with a scowl.
Kaito's head was aching again, but the pain was much bearable than before. He continued keeping his position in place.
"Put that clock down." She snarled.
"Give me a hundred reasons why I should."
"I just need to tell you one and it's enough to give you thousands of reason why you must."
"Enlighten me."
She huffed.
He raised the clock higher.
"I wouldn't be saying this much if Pandora didn't exist, but since it really wasn't a myth created by the organization..." Haibara muttered. "You should know the legend of how the tear works. But actually, the so-called tear doesn't bring about immortality. Their plan was to erase people for their benefits.
"What is your damn point?"
Haibara gritted her teeth. "Chemically, the content of the tear contains something more dangerous than the APTX 4869."
Kaito sent a questioning look over to Conan, which the latter understood. "It's the name of pill they fed me with to become like this. I've told you about it before."
He clenched onto the digital clock tighter. "That's why I must destroy it."
"But it's the key to bringing our bodies back." Haibara injected quickly. "Something stronger that APTX 4869 to erase the poison completely within us. I need that for the antidote. And it's also something that could be used for other benefits for many-"
Kaito turned over to Conan again in the middle of her sentence.
"You believed what she said?" He laughed sardonically. "Are you brainwashed? Have you forgotten where she'd came from?"
"I don't need you to teach me who to trust and not to trust." Conan growled. "And I don't see why I shouldn't believe it too."
"You're blinded by your temptation in getting your body back and ignoring all the underlying facts."
"And you're blinded with hate for the stone, for who knows what reason."
That sentence took Kaito aback. It was true, but he didn't care.
Without a word, he slammed the clock down and Haibara shrieked a no!, but the pistol in her hands didn't fire. Her running was cut short when he lifted the clock again, revealing the perfectly fine stone still resting between two of his fingers.
What were they taking him for? An amateur that just joined the trade of thieving? Did they really thought that thieving was such a simple job to do? Kaito knew the pistol was fake the moment when his eyes laid upon it. She wanted to scare him? He thought he would return the favor.
But this simple act of threat was enough to let that girl spilled the beans and Kaito finally got what he needed to hear and know. He knew it. No one was alive till this day to prove that immortality existed. Creating an Organization for a purpose that could be all just a myth? He would call them a foolish one. But using the formula and a special chemical to kill. That was what Kaito would call the Organization a sinister one. And this fitted them better.
Haibara finally regained her composure and scowled. "You tricked me."
Kaito tossed the gem in the air before catching it effortlessly. As a magician, those three words was basically what he loved to hear. Though in all honesty, Kaito was tempted; He really wanted to break this gem into two.
"I'll keep the gem till the day of the volley comet."
"No. It's too risky. They'll find you." She stated the obvious.
"I know, that's why I have to return the gem. An indirect message that this gem wasn't Pandora."
Haibara was showing signs of disagreement, but Conan finally cut both of them off.
"He's got a good handyman who made counterfeits from dog poop." The detective scoffed. "He should know what he needs to do."
At least this brat was thinking at the same wave length as him, saving him the trouble of a round of convincing. But an excellent counterfeit may not be the only thing he needed. There would be tons of documentations swapping and bribery he had to settle with the insurance company and the possible number of experienced gemstone collectors who would check if the diamond that was returned real or not.
"And then I'll continue stealing." The words that left his mouth tasted sour. That brief image of Aoko flashed across his mind, though he effectively kept his poker face intact. "That'll keep them alert and focused on other gems instead."
"You're going to trust him?" Haibara narrowed her eyes at Conan.
"I don't need you to teach me who to trust and not to trust too." The detective then turned towards Kaito. "And I don't see why I shouldn't believe him."
"We're just his chess pieces, so don't expect much." Kaito muttered to Haibara.
Conan shot a withering look.
"Anyway," Kaito returned a solemn gaze. "What happened to those men after the blast. Were they captured?"
The detective glanced away.
"They're gone when the police forces came."
.o.
It was only till late Friday evening when he finally left the detective's house, which equalled to a day and a half since Kuroba Kaito went completely missing and uncontactable. He had put his phone in one of his desk's drawers, and he was half expecting it to almost run out of battery by the amount of spams he might receive.
When Kaito reached his house, he fished out his key and was about to unlock it when his hands froze.
The door was already unlocked and left ajar.
He carefully opened the door and stepped in, hearing nothing but the usual silence that echoed in the house. His eyes moved around the living room to quickly scan and see if there was a difference, until his eyes laid upon a couple of papers on the dining table.
His feet flew to the table and picked up the pieces of worksheets from school.
"What the..." Kaito's eyes slowly moved from the papers to his window-less kitchen, "...hell."
"Shit." He turned and dashed up to the stairs, the papers still unknowingly glued to his fingers as if they were something precious to him. He pushed open his bedroom door and glanced over to the portrait of his father, slightly panting and that throbbing feeling in his head was coming back. He took in a few deep breaths and entered his secret basement with the flipped of the secret door.
The room was the same, white and empty and lonely. His eyes scanned over from his attires, his equipment and then at the large map on the wall. There were no signs of anything being tampered, and a hope was bubbling in his chest till it all burst when he finally saw his monocle and the card that was shot out from his gun lying on the floor.
"No. No." Kaito approached to the objects on the ground, the papers in his hand slowly slipping from his fingers and falling like feathers. He really messed up a lot in life, but this was the worse. This was real bad. The damaged monocle Aoko returned him that night was used as a constant reminder about the danger, but now he was screwed up because of it. His eyes wavered at the slightly crumpled card.
He turned and ignored the fact he trampled on his homework and entered his bedroom again, his hand scrambled for the drawer that kept his phone and he fumbled in frantically.
There were 12 missed calls and 20 messages.
He scrolled through his missed calls, to find that they were all from Jii. No Aoko. He then moved to his inbox and scrolled through the worried messages of Jii and how he had been contacting his mother about his safety. No Aoko-
Until the first message he received.
'Can we meet for a bit?'
The timing of the message was irregular, but something in Kaito's gut swirled uncomfortably at the six eerie looking words. He was sure the message was sent before she realized what he hid in his house, but then again, maybe it was really time for it.
'Sure. Where do you want?'
Kaito wasn't sure if Aoko would bother to reply him at all. He plopped onto his bed, trying to put his expectation to the lowest point before he decided to call Jii to update several things. He also had to call his mom too. There were many things he needed to do, but he really want to meet Aoko as well, now.
"-And that's it, I need you to prepare the documents and the details about the people they will contact to check if the gem is real or not as soon as possible."
"Right away. And Kaito-bocchama?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you alright? You sounded a little, off. I'm glad you're fine and in piece, but..."
Kaito thought about asking for advice regarding Aoko's issue, just anything to rectify something about it. But all he did was to sigh.
That was when his phone suddenly buzzed and Kaito instantly perked up, pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind.
"I'm fine. I'll call you back later. Thanks for the help in advance."
He cut the call and quickly read the message that was sent to him a second ago. It was indeed... Aoko. His lips tugged up, and the heavy and cringe-y feeling in his chest died down just a little.
'Clock tower in half an hour.'
At least she replied. At least she still bothered. At least she still said something to him. And that was a good sign.
'Okay.'
.o.
He reached there ten minutes earlier before the stated time. She came a minute later after him.
The parade square before the clock tower was relatively empty, and Kaito didn't know if this was the reason why Aoko choose this place to meet; some peace and quiet. But this was also the place where they first met after all, so was she trying to hint him something? They often passed by this place too, and she would tease how she missed the kind and cute him he used to be, much to his annoyance. He never know how much he missed those moments until now.
When she approached nearer and stood under some light that was radiated by the lamp posts around them, Kaito noticed how puffy her eyes were. Something in Kaito's chest broke.
"Aoko..."
"If you tell me you are not Kaitou Kid. I will believe you."
Kaito widened his eyes. So Aoko really knew, although he inwardly wished it was all just his wild imagination and overreaction. She was rarely straightforward with her feelings, always hiding her desires and wants under carefully chosen words so that Kaito could decipher, even though he tried to act stupid some times. Now, he could tell she was too tired to beat around the bush.
He lowered his gaze and licked his lips nervously. He and nervous never come together before, but this time, Kaito had to admit he really was. He really didn't want to break this girl's heart again and he wasn't confident enough to guarantee that. But he had lied enough. He couldn't do this, even if he wanted her to believe a lie that would hurt her much lesser than the truth. But she already knew the truth, and this lie would just make things worse. He couldn't do what she wanted him to do, and it hurt him more than anything else.
"You can't expect me to lie again."
"Lie. So you knew that you lied."
He didn't have anything to say.
"Is this your scheme? Asking the inspector's daughter out and playing with her feelings. You just want to get closer to her so you can plan your heists much easier and effectively right?"
Kaito raised his head sharply. "No, no, Aoko. Don't say that."
"There's got to be a reason why you became Kaitou Kid. I know you love magic and fun, but for you to risk everything and putting your life on the line, I don't understand. You told me before, Kaitou Kid told me before, that there are other dangerous people after you. What is going on? If you tell me, then I'll have a reason to forgive you. And please, just please." Aoko said exasperatedly and clenched onto the hem of her shirt. "Please let me forgive you."
He couldn't give her the reason, not now. Kaito couldn't afford her to be on his side. He didn't want to have anyone involved in his game, if he could. And even if he had dragged Jii and Conan in several times, the last person he ever wanted was Aoko. The consequences was just too heavy for him to bear. He bit his lips and prepared for what he had to say.
"Would it be hard for you... to hate me just like how you hate Kaitou Kid?"
She looked at him with moist eyes and oh, oh how much Kaito just wanted to wipe them away.
"So you're not going to tell me the reason?"
"There's no reason."
Aoko flared.
"I'm-I'm already having difficulties trying to hate Kaitou Kid, and you want me to hate you?! You stupid asshole that I've known... for so many years? Do you think hating someone is so easy, Kuroba Kaito? It's tiring as hell!" She brought her fist to her chest and continuing beating it, as if she was choking. "Ended up, the only person I hate is myself. I hate myself because I can't hate the man that stolen my father away. I hate myself for being so blind and stupid all these time. I hate myself because I always thought you're just the happy Kuroba Kaito I know, but you're always, always hurting yourself and still putting that smile for, everyone, for me. I hate-"
"Stop-Stop Stop it, Aoko." He grabbed her wrists and pulled them down to her side. "Don't hate yourself. You never done anything wrong. It's all my fault. I'm sorry."
"Is apologizing the only thing you can do?" Aoko looked up to him, her eyes filled with expectation.
Kaito glanced away. "There's nothing else I can do." This is the only way to keep you safe.
She shrugged his touch away and he let her. There was a short silence between the two of them, slowly filling in the gap that was growing bigger and bigger every second. He couldn't look at her, but he was worried by how quiet she suddenly was.
"A-Aoko...?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Not the reason-"
"Have you, ever... Have you ever lik-l-loved me before?"
Before? No. He still love her. Shit. Why didn't she get it? He still love her. Hell, this damn clock tower that was right in front of them; he had stolen it just for her. But how was he going to say it? Kaito couldn't breathe, his tongue was tied too. He could feel his eyes turning moist and his nose was itchy. If he had to admit, he was just too afraid that once he spoke, everything would just spill out. Not just his reasons to become Kaitou Kid or his proclamation that he loved her so badly... it was the tears that he didn't want to show too.
But from that silence, Aoko seemed to come up with a conclusion on her own.
"I'll do as you wish. I hate you. To make my job easier, please pretend that those years and times we spent together doesn't exist." With that, she sent him the coldest eyes he had ever seen in his life and she spun around, walking away to another direction of the street.
Just like usual, this was the outcome Kaito led it to. He should be expecting it. But he didn't realize just how much this would hurt him, almost as much as the day when he knew his father died.
He clenched his chest and watched Aoko's fragile back disappeared into the shadows.
21 CHAPTERS. 21 CHAPTERS OMG and finally it's the chapter you guys have been asking for.
Phew, now that we've reached here, I want every single one of you who is reading this right now to know how thankful I am towards you. Your support, especially the reviews, kept me writing until now. Honestly, I've been considering abandoning this story and just leave it to rot... but you guys pulled me back here.
Oh my, I'm writing the author's note like this is the last chapter, but it's not! I just want to remind all of you that you guys are the best.
More chapters to come :) And yes! Reviews are really appreciated :)
Ps: If you guys can't remember where that lightning crack-shaped monocle came from, it's from chapter 5!