Chrysanthemum (2)
There was no where that provided the best wine Aoko always needed, other than the bar belonging to her life-time business partner, Jii-chan. For next month's list of new recipes to teach her students, Aoko decided to add chocolate-cheese wine cake to her draft, an idea she had never tried. So here she was, finding suitable wines from the storage room behind Jii's bar and trying to get the perfect fit so she could test out her baking skills before she confirmed her teaching materials.
Aoko was unusually picky that day. After placing the eleventh bottle back to its rack, she found herself at the corner of the room, a part where she rarely reached since she usually found what she wanted at the beginning of her search. Her eyes drifted across the cork of the bottles, until she stopped her gaze on a particular one that looked a little strange. She would have missed it if she didn't handle wine bottles frequently for other baking recipes.
Her fingers softly caressed the tip of the cork and not-so-surprisingly felt a little bump coming out from it. Aoko scoffed, feeling a sense of Déjà vu overwhelming her. She sent a little effort to her thumb and the button-like bulge disappeared, instead, a small rumbling sound echoed softly and the racks that was previously standing tall flipped to its side, creating an opening to the hidden room behind it.
She sighed out loud.
It would be a lie if she said she wasn't interested or curious about her unintentional findings. But she definitely knew one thing about this room she was about to step in; it had something to do with Kaitou Kid.
Aoko realized the truth two years ago after Kaitou Kid, or rather Kuroba Kaito landed himself in the hospital with a gunshot wound that nearly paralyze his entire body if it was just an inch closer to his spine. And it wasn't any kind of aim from anyone. It was a fatal blow originally meant for Aoko's heart, and Kaitou Kid protected her from getting shot by those bad guys she had accidentally crossed path with.
It was easy to link everything once her boyfriend suddenly disappeared for one whole month, the exact period when Kaitou Kid was lying in the hospital bed. And perhaps with some helpful work of fate, her dangerous strength ultimately unraveled all the secrets behind the portrait of Kaito's father when she had anxiously and accidentally threw a pillow at it to vent her frustration of worrying about where the hell Bakaito went for the entire period.
A month later, Kaitou Kid woke up. A month and a half later, Kuroba Kaito appeared at the doorsteps of her house.
He said he was sorry. And he feared her safety.
She said she needed time. And she wanted to be alone.
Aoko moved to town, far away from her old and quiet neighborhood. In the end, she quitted her job as a police-in-training belonging to Division 2 Kaitou Kid's squad to a baking teacher.
Those memories were put to a stop when she felt a cringe in her chest. Two years had passed but the pain hadn't lessened and Aoko was frustrated about herself for being such an emotional-wreck even after so long.
Shaking her head to brush off her negativity, she poked her head into the dim-lit room, her eyes scanning across the fanciful equipment that Aoko had seen at least once in certain occasion of Kaitou Kid's heist.
There was the legendary card-gun that Kaitou Kid always used, parts all came apart with screws and fixing tools lying around it on the table. A few smokes bombs here and there, night goggles, rope launcher and many more other gadgets, which Aoko couldn't bother to guess or remember its purposes. She strolled around the big table in the middle of the room, deciding it wasn't a place for her to stay until her eyes fell upon an opened white box that contained six blue balls. Aoko had never seen it before, and something about it captivated her to stop and look.
Her fingers reached out for one of the blue balls and she picked it up, inspecting it for a second. Aoko felt there was something protruding out from behind the ball and she turned it around to look, to realize there was indeed a button like she suspected. She rolled her eyes, wondering if buttons and switches were currently a trend for stupid thieves or people with secret identities and some sort. Wow, what a coincidence. Kaitou Kid fitted both description.
Just as when she was about to put the ball back to its place, her fingers grasped it a little too hard and accidentally pressed the switch. She gasped out loud and closed her eyes, the ball slipped from her hand and fell onto the ground. A few seconds passed and Aoko was half-expecting sleeping gas or candyfloss to burst out from it, but nothing happened.
She frowned and picked it up, her fingers wrapping around it tentatively. This time, she could hear a soft beeping coming from the orb in her hand and she tilted it around, a little puzzled at the source of the sound before she noted a red figure appearing at one side ball.
4
3
2
Realization finally dawned upon her, and it would have been too late if it wasn't for a hand that suddenly clutched around hers. She felt one of her fingers pressed the switch again, and the countdown stopped like what Aoko had been inwardly praying.
"Don't release it." A soft whisper hushed into her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
Aoko whirled her head around, her face almost hitting the cheeks of the man that was standing closely beside her. She took in a deep breath and regretted instantly as her lungs was filled with the comfortable and soothing scent that calmed her nerves magically, an effect that Aoko thought it was no different from an addictive drug. She thought she had finally gotten rid of her obsession, but it turned out to be a pretense she had been forcing herself to feel.
Kuroba Kaito glanced down at her, his eyes showing the same, unreadable emotions he gave to her when she came to realize the truth. They both turned away from each other in sync, their attention set upon the red numbered 1 in their hands.
"What if... I've re-released i-it?" Aoko finally mustered enough energy to speak.
"What do you think?"
"Just my luck. Just my luck!" She gave an irritated growl.
"Why are you in here?" He said, in a surprisingly calm tone.
Aoko gritted her teeth. "Is this conversation appropriate now?"
She could almost feel his smirk beside her ear. "Jii-chan needs to up his game with the secret switch."
"That's none of my business."
"Move your hand aside. I'll hold the button."
Her mood changed drastically, from her angry scowl to nervous, quivering lips. "I-I can't." She gulped. "My hand is too numb."
He shifted his fingers, gently brushing across her skin and transferring his warmth onto her cool and trembling hand. Slowly and steadily, he successfully adjusted his thumb onto the button, though her hand was still around the bomb.
"Get out to safety."
She gaped at him, eyes widened in horror. "I'm not going to leave you here."
Kaito stared at her. "I know how to deal with this."
"I don't care if you do or do not know. I-I'm not going to leave you here alone."
He gave a defeated sigh. "Can't you let me win an argument? Just once?"
"It's not about winning an argument! I want both of us to-"
Aoko had no idea how and why, but in that split second when her sentence was halfway done, the bomb abruptly fell out from their hands. Time magically stood still in that instant, and all Aoko could do was to give the loudest shout her voice would allow, squeeze her eyes shut and pounce straight into Kaito's chest. She felt herself turn, not to her willing but due to Kaito's firm and strong hands that spun her away from danger as he protected her using his body instead.
Every single thing around her rapidly skipped back to the event when she remembered hearing gunshots ringing in the air, a cape fluttering before her and all the white things she saw of Kaitou Kid became red.
And then there were her tears, pouring out like rainfall.
And then nothing else.
Her nose twitched, brows furrowed and her eyes slowly fluttered open. She was expecting fire, or at least explosion dusts to engulf her body. But there was none, and the only thing she could feel was a familiar yet distant form of warmness seeping through her clothing. The unusual silence was so loud that Aoko could hear the beating of her own heart thumping in her ears.
She hesitantly moved back, her face left the strong scent of Kaito's clothes and the first thing that welcomed her sight was his smile and eyes that contained not a trace of mockery. They stared at each other for an eternity before Kaito ended the silence with his soft voice.
"How have you been?"
It took her three seconds to understand what the hell just happened and her hands instantly slapped his chest a couple of times till he finally broke the embrace between them.
"You- You stupid- Stupid idiot! You tricked me!"
"Sorry- Ouch, ouch- I'm sorry."
"Do you like to see me suffer? Do you enjoy it so much?!"
Kaito's face left no signs of happiness from before. His lips were now pursed, eyes hardened. "I just thought-" He lowered his head. "I shouldn't have scared you. I'm sorry."
Hot tears threatened to fill her eyes and she wiped them furiously before the water flowed. She didn't want to let him know she was about to cry, though her actions were making things more obvious than ever.
"How have I been? I've always been fine, till I met you again today." Aoko bit the inside of her cheeks, trying to pretend the brief moment when Kaito widened his eyes didn't happen. Taking a deep breath, she stomped out of the room without looking at her back once.
It broke her to see him. It broke her to see him sad. It broke her to remember the scene when Kaitou Kid was dying in her arms.
Aoko dashed out of Jii's bar and down the streets, hoping the little run would help to keep certain things off her mind.
If only love was just like an appendix, able to be removed as and when it caused pain... Things would have been much easier for her to bear. But it wasn't, she couldn't and she had no other way.
.o.
"Here's the bombs you asked for."
Kaito picked the blue balls from the white box, scrutinizing it carefully until he was satisfied. He glanced at Jii, eyebrows slightly raised. "The range?"
"As specific as you requested."
He nodded and closed the carton, patting the cover like a baby. "Thanks."
"I'm sorry Kaito-botchama." Jii sighed after a pause. "About the incident last week."
Kaito straightened his posture, letting the memories flow in. He tried to remember Aoko's fragrance and the cute little brows that furrowed when she looked scared, but those thoughts were gone when the words she screamed at him came back like a slap to his face. He waved a hand nonchalantly.
"I should count myself lucky that those were prototypes you made and not the real ones."
"But Aoko-chan misunderstood and thought you pranked her."
"It's alright." Kaito felt the edge of the box and stopped at the sharp tip. If only he could control his swirling emotions as easy as self-inflicted pains. "Maybe it's better if she thought I tricked her, rather than knowing what kind of possible danger she almost landed herself into. Her anger always subsides easier than worries."
Jii went silent and Kaito took the chance to leave. He ensured the seal was tight and stuck the box in between his arms, ready to go when Jii spoke once again, stopping him in his tracks.
"Are you going to always keep up like this?"
Kaito peered over his shoulder. He had a feeling the answer would be one he didn't want to reply. "Like what?"
"Being strangers with Aoko-chan."
"Aoko's never safe around me." Kaito looked away. "And perhaps I'm her jinx. Last week's incident proved my point."
He now understood the saying of how truth hurts.
"But you protected her even when-"
"I'm not a superhero, Jii-chan." He whispered to the air. "I'm just a ghost of a phantom thief."
That being said, he walked out of the hidden room and left the poor old man alone. It was an ass of him to do that to Jii when the latter had took care of him since forever, but Kaito needed some time to himself, a place where Aoko's tears wouldn't haunt his mind.
A soft chant echoed from the distance *angst angst angst angst*
Grateful for all the kind words! I hope the heavily informative chapter didn't disappoint.
Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated :)