Chrysanthemum (8)
Hakuba's wedding was beyond surreal. Despite claiming it was a small event he was holding for his Japanese friends and acquaintances and he would hold the bigger and formal one in England, Aoko really couldn't imagine how the latter would turn out when the so-called small event was as grand as this.
Hundreds of white roses were scattered across a vast field of Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, with plentiful beautiful laced white-clothed round tables and matching chairs for the guests to rest and chat. Aoko knew the detective would prepare the best kind of delicacies and finger food for everyone, but the only gift she could afford to the ever-rich Hakuba was her baking talents alone, so she presented him an extra table filled with goodies she was proud of. This was as much as she could give, compared to other guests who gifted exquisite diamonds and priceless wines. Hakuba was nonetheless grateful, though.
It was like a mini class gathering too, after so many years when everyone went on their separate ways. It was hard to recognize a few of them when they either grew horizontally or vertically bigger, and some were even carrying babies in their arms. Everyone stopped by a few tables to catch up, laughing with their wine about all the horrible memories of a high-school student. And most of these stories involved Kaito.
"He once disguised as me and did something stupid and I was sent detention instead." One of her classmate, Kyosuke sighed. But his miserable-looking eyes soon lit up like a bright Christmas tree. "Though I guess if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have met Hinami-chan."
The group instantly giggled at the couple who began intertwining their hands with a blush on their cheeks. It wasn't rare for romance to blossom in a class, in fact, school couples were even more common regardless of the difference in class or years and Kyosuke and Hinami was one of them, still going strong and preparing for their engagement in a month time.
Aoko sighed heavenly at the sight of the sweet little pair before Keiko excitedly pointed to the other end of the park, to which everyone including her turned to see what she was fussing about.
"Speak of the devil!"
Kuroba Kaito trudged towards the crowd, his mouth wiggling a piece of mint-chocolate macaroon in his mouth. Aoko stared at the dessert before realizing it was actually made by her own hands, and to see him chewing her hard-work so aloofly caused a vein to pop on her temple, but she hid her anger as well as she could.
"Where's Hakuba?" Kaito mumbled after gobbling the food down.
"He's with his police colleagues." Keiko replied.
"Oh, I thought I heard you said speak of the devil. I assumed Hakuba the devil was here."
Aoko rolled her eyes. "You're the devil."
He turned to her with ease. "Then you're the Satan."
It was obvious that everyone was watching them with careful eyes, as if they were expecting something would happen. But Aoko honestly couldn't blame them when she and her idiot table partner were the cause for all the traumas and troubles in class.
"What's the difference?" She spat.
"Exactly." Kaito grinned. "We're two peas in the pod."
She literally shivered and attempted to stomp on his fine looking shoes but missed, like usual.
"Oh my God Kuroba, you and your stupid flirting needs to stop."
"I've heard you guys broken up. Guess it was fake?"
"Eh, they've broken up? Since when?"
"That couldn't be." In the midst of the heated discussion, their class rep suddenly turned towards Aoko. "Come on, tell us the truth."
Aoko was expecting this question to hit her sooner or later when anyone inquiry about her relationship with Kaito. During their senior year when they went out, it was the biggest craze in the whole school that once, the discipline mistress had to stop them in the middle of the corridor and asked them what kind of schemes or pranks they were up to. Did she really look more like his assistant than his girlfriend?! But then, those days had been...
She lowered her eyes.
...Fun.
And knowing that she was going to be asked, Aoko was all prepared for the possible blows and pains in her chest. But all the expected cringes and heartaches she once felt didn't happen at all. If she had to choose, free would perhaps be the proper term to describe what she was feeling now. She never knew she had really let it all go until the question she once avoided at all cost truly came.
"Yes, we broke up." She finally confirmed.
Loud, exaggerated gasps echoed among the crowd that a couple of other guests turned to see what the commotion was about. Kaito simply sighed beside her.
"Why? I can't believe it!"
"You guys aren't serious, are you?"
"I bet they are going to back together sooner or later. You know, their usual lover's quarrel."
Everyone laughed, saved for the two main leads of the joke.
She knew it. Nobody was going to believe about how serious her break up with Kaito was, except for Keiko and Sayaka, though they seemed a little teasing about it at the start and she even recalled overhearing about their bet on when they would patch up together again. Apparently both of them lost; one of them bet on two weeks while the other bet on two days. Who thought it could be two years? Her two best friends finally gave in to stop the mocking and Aoko couldn't be happier. After all, there was no way she could tell anyone the truth, and hearing Kuroba Kaito's name at the starting period of the separation was like rolling around in shattered glass.
"I need a break." Aoko mumbled and managed to slip out of everyone's view as their attention settled on Kaito instead. Keiko and Sayaka asked if she needed company and she declined their offer, stating she wanted some time to herself.
Aoko greeted a few other familiar faces along the way as she stepped away from the venue, the white roses on the ground soon turned to the original grass field of the park. In her long maxi dress, it looked extremely weird for her to loiter in the park where most of the people were clad in something more sporty or casual, so she took a few turns to avoid the popular areas until she found a desolated spot that was coincidentally by a lake.
She gave herself a few minutes to be mesmerized by the beauty of the place before sitting down on a clean-looking spot of grass under a huge shady tree. There were little flowers blooming at the roots of the tree and Aoko carefully touched the tip of the petals, her mind slowly drifting to her new recipe for the cupcakes she had been experimenting recently. This was exactly the alone-time she yearned for and she jokingly wondered if she should find some days to come here to get some quiet moments to keep her thoughts cleared. She definitely needed it ever since Kaito came back into her life. Aoko bent her knees and wrapped an arm to lock it to her chest, her other hand dancing from flowers to flowers.
Her peace was soon interrupted by a voice behind her.
"You ditched me."
Aoko glanced to her back, watching Kaito with a scowl as he walked towards her with both hands in his pocket.
"Are you expecting me to explain on your behalf?" She scoffed once he plopped himself on the grass beside her. "I'm not a great liar like you."
Kaito stopped short for a split moment. She was half expecting some kind of witty retort or comeback from him, but after a second, he only gave a simple and soft "I guess not." before looking into the lake in front of them, the conversation officially over.
"How do you even find me here?"
"I asked around if they've seen any mad woman passed by. Their answers lead me here."
She roughly pushed his arm, almost causing him to fall to his side. He gave a loud shout in defence before chortling to himself. Despite her rough gesture, the point when she was angry marked a winning victory for him.
"If you're here to annoy me, I suggest you to leave or your head will be inside the lake."
He raised a hand. "But all I did was to answer your question though."
"Mad woman." She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Really?"
"A beautiful woman in maxi dress is the real answer."
Aoko widened her eyes, heat slowly creeping from the back of her neck and to her cheeks. She turned away with a scoff, hoping the sudden redness of her face was camouflaged well with the blusher she used today. Even if she was inwardly embarrassed by his use of adjective about her, she guessed he was probably exaggerating his words to make her feel this way on purpose. It had always been his talent after all.
"If you're uncomfortable about the situation back there, you don't have to worry anymore." Kaito said. "I've cleared up everything."
"Clear up everything?" She warily looked back at him. "What? You told them you're Kaitou Kid?" She didn't mean to give him this kind of personal attack, though she decided he deserved it.
"I've simply said we needed some time apart to figure things out." He gave a weak smile. "It may not be the whole truth, but that's still part of the truth, right?"
Her lips parted, unable to speak like a fish in a water. Truth? She was almost too blinded by the lies she remembered hearing to even remember the truth. But if this was what he said, if this was really the truth he was saying-
"Aoko."
She tentatively turned towards him.
"Do you think we can ever go back to the time when we're together again?"
Aoko immediately noticed the way his expression faltered, his smile turning completely different from the real one she always saw. Even if his previous real smiles were all a pretense, his skill of acting this time round was too poorly done. He was forcing it out, and if she could see through his disguise this easily, she knew he must have been really distracted by something or some sort to forget his poker face. His words had taken her aback, but his haywire emotions were something that caught her attention more.
It took her a very long while to completely register his words to her brain. She really didn't know how to answer, at least not now. If he had asked this question a year ago, she would definitely slap him and tell him to ask himself. This time, she didn't feel the urge to raise her hand, and not even a slightest thought of wanting to hurt him appeared in his mind. He often pranked her in the past and she always had her sweetest revenge, with a fish as bonus. So since he threw her into the darkest moment of her life, she should do the same back. She could reply him with an answer that would destroy him, even if it was a lie or not.
The tree swayed along with the wind as she dumbly stared at the yellow leaves floating down and scattering all around them. Perhaps this kind of revenge didn't suit her at all.
"Sorry." He spoke again, breaking the silence. "I think I've said something I shouldn't."
His eyes were cast down like a lost child, a look she remembered seeing in the mirror during the days when she couldn't find Kaito after Kaitou Kid was shot. She set her chin on her bent knees, her fingers reached out for the hem of her maxi dress by her ankle, feeling the soft fabric in her hand. It took her some time again until she finally searched the rights words she thought it was appropriate to say. Even though staying silent could be one of her choice of action, Aoko knew how it sucked to hear no answer. She had been through that phase enough to know.
"Kaito." She licked her dry lips, her sidelong glance noticed how his head had spun abruptly towards her. "I... don't hate you anymore, at least not as much as in the past." Her eyes carefully moved to his features, capturing every brief moment of expression on his face. If she had to decipher the meaning behind his stare, it was as if he was looking at his entire world. She choose to gaze down at her feet, the best decision for her to stay focus on the remaining words she wanted to say. "About going back in the past... I don't know, or maybe I don't know how."
There's still hope. But- "I need more time."
"Of course." Kaito replied right away. "If time is all you need, time is all I will give."
Her concentration was cut off as she turned to look at him sceptically. The worries of everything was all sent to the back of her mind. "You sounded poetic for a moment." She blurted out.
"It depends if the listener knows how to appreciate it."
Aoko rolled her eyes. "More like if the listener understands the crap that comes out from your mouth."
"At least you understand. And it's enough for me."
Maybe she understood too well to believe all the shitty things he said.
They sat in silence, watching a few ducks floating along the surface of the peaceful lake. It was a rare serene sight to see and they had no idea how immensely distracted they were by something so silly and innocent until the blueish-green lake slowly became mixed with a hue of deep orange from the colour of the setting sun, which was about to disappear among the tall trees in the park.
Aoko straightened her legs and stretched her back, giving a relaxed and indefinable human noise. She would have cared for her image if it wasn't Kaito who was sitting beside her.
"Do you want to go back?" She asked.
He turned to face her. "Can we stay here if I say no?"
"I don't mind."
It wasn't a bad idea after all.
.o.
Another new day, but it wasn't particularly new or anything.
"Good morning Kyoko." Aoko chimed as she stepped into the baking studio like every other day. The receptionist perked up with a smile as her first response.
"Good morning- Oh!" Kyoko began rummaging through several papers on her desk before handing Aoko an envelope when the latter reached the desk. "You've got mail. Seems like something important since it's delivered on its own, and as early as the time I opened up the studio."
Mails she received at work were usually about future events she was asked to be involved in, such as preparing dessert tables for weddings, but never once had she ever received a mail with such high priority level. Aoko accepted the envelope with more curiosity than excitement and flipped it from the back to the front. There's wasn't anything special or suspicious about the letter... wait, why did that thought even appear in her mind?
She shook her head and decided to open it there and then; there was still a lot of time before her next lesson start. She pulled out the content and began to read. It was a small cruise event that would be happening next week, and there was an address and the boat number indicated in the paper, along with the date and time to meet the host to discuss more about the cost and personal requests.
It was dated today evening.
This decision was almost too sudden. There wasn't any contact details left behind either so she couldn't reply or negotiate the time to meet, not like she wasn't free, but...
This is weird.
"This is weird."
Aoko spun her head around, her face almost colliding into the man who whispered right behind her ears. Her heart fluttered at the sight of his blue, deep eyes and the words he once said to her echoed in her mind like magic again.
"Do you think we can ever go back to the time when we're together again?"
She stepped back and used a scowl to disguise the possible reason for the redness of her face as she hide the letter behind her back. She thought she still had more time to think about his words and about everything between them now, but a new week had begun and she had to see Kaito in her lessons like every other time. It was so hard for her to run away.
"What are you doing here?"
Kaito's eyes never left the letter. It took him a while before he looked at her. "Our lesson is starting, if you've forgotten."
"So what's the content about?" Kyoko prompted. "Do I need to arrange anything?"
"There's no need. The client wants to meet during my free time so I'll settle it myself first." Aoko smiled, genuinely happy with the distraction Kyoko made to get her to be a little less flustered than before. Since the event was scheduled next week, a fast meet-up shouldn't be strange, and she shouldn't be paranoid over nothing. What could be wrong with this anyway? She caressed the corner of the letter before keeping it back to inside the envelope. "Thanks anyway."
As Aoko began heading to the staff's room, it wasn't surprising to know that Kaito was following closely behind her. She expected nothing more than his usual stoic and quiet way of trying to approach her, not until he spoke.
"Shall I accompany you to the harbour later?"
She turned and narrowed her eyes. "You're a fast reader, and a rude stalker."
He shrugged as she continued her way. "So is it a yes or a no?"
"No."
Once Aoko reached the door to the lockers, she purposely pointed at the NO ENTRY Staff Only sign hanging on the knob, just because she believed he would really follow her in if she didn't stop him. Kaito only gave a silent desolate sigh, raising his hands in a surrender mode as he stepped back from the door that he almost passed through. She thought he would finally go away, but she had always been wrong about him, despite how much she knew him in the past.
"Let me put in another way. Do you want someone to accompany you?" Kaito said, his back leaning against the side of the door as he turned his head in. For a moment, she thought he looked like the cool cowboy she recently got infatuated with, a character from a show she was currently watching. Aoko got to get her eyes checked soon.
"I don't need anyone to accompany me." She slammed her locker shut and headed to the hanging aprons.
"I'm asking if you want."
"I certainly do not want too."
He was at a losing end, or so she thought.
"That's great." He grinned. "Then I should certainly follow you, in order to live up to my name as a stalker."
Aoko rolled her eyes and could only afford a glare at him as she was too busy tying a perfect knot for her apron to reach the mop kept inside one of the cabinets. What on earth did he want from her? She didn't realize she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
"Suddenly receiving a letter to meet on a yacht at late evening, I shouldn't be the only one who thinks it's weird, right? Inspector Nakamori?"
"I'm not Inspector Naka-"
"And the letter didn't state that you're not allowed to bring an assistant."
She frowned. "You're not my assistant."
"We can play pretend."
It was so damn unfair that he managed to read her feelings more than she could herself. He was right, it did seem weird, and now that he mentioned it, a meeting at a small cruise with people she wasn't familiar at the time nearing night... she finally understood what was with her uneasiness at the start. She contemplated her decisions seriously and he somehow understood, letting her to think in silence. His presence would do some help to lessen her nervousness, and perhaps she could even seal the deal faster this way... There was no reason to object, saved for his unknown gadgets and pranks he had up his sleeve.
"Okay. We can play pretend." Aoko wagged her finger. "But give me any of your tricks and the only thing you'll see before your world turns black would be my fist or the mop. Your choice."
He smiled.
It was the most common emotion he showed, yet it always confused her more than anything else.
.o.
Aoko always rely on cabs and the duties of the driver if she needed to go to a place she wasn't familiar with, that was why when she read the letter, she had no idea the destination for the meet up was a quiet and small port that was situated near a dense forest, with little lamps around to properly lit up the area for people to safely travel around. It was still early evening so Aoko wasn't as scared as of yet, but if the discussion lasted even an hour long, she was pretty sure the entire area would be too dark for her comfort.
She glanced over at Kaito who was walking along the narrow path towards the port after the driver dropped them off. It was lucky that he was stubborn in his decision and she was willing to go along with him. If not... she had no idea what to do, unless the client was a great person and offered her a ride back to town, although she wasn't sure if she would even agree to his or her kindness due to unfamiliarity.
"Is that the yacht?"
Her eyes travelled to the sole white boat floating at the end of the dock. It looked rather new from what she observed, though the emptiness of the pier was what distracted her the most. She fumbled in her bag after realizing she had yet to answer Kaito's question and pulled out the letter. She scanned through the numbers on the paper before checking the yacht again.
"Yeah it is. It must be too, since it's the only boat here."
Kaito shrugged.
They approached to the end of the dock and scrutinized the boat for one last time. It should be big enough for a group of 20 to comfortably enjoy their vacation on the sea and Aoko instantly wondered what kind event would be held in there. Birthday? Anniversary? She peered down at the letter again. The information simply said cruise event...
Aoko shook her head and stuffed the paper back into her bag before turning to Kaito. "Should we go in?" She prompted.
He contemplated for a moment and glanced around their surroundings. It was weird how she was considering his idea when this invitation was meant for her. Nonetheless, she waited for his reply.
"Let's go in."
Surprisingly, there was a dock boarding steps conveniently placed by the side of the yacht. Aoko stepped on it first and climbed up, with Kaito watching her carefully before he followed suit once she was done. The boat shook a little at the increase of their weight, but other than that, it looked and sounded completely peaceful on board. She loitered around the deck for a while before heading inside, as usual, with Kaito standing quietly and closely behind her.
She pushed the sliding door aside and blinked a couple of times at the sudden welcoming atmosphere. It was as if she just entered a portal and landed herself in a relaxing and elegant dimension when she stepped into the interior of the yacht, compared to the plain looking deck outside. In the main room, there were two brown leather couch side by side, with a long table that reached from one end to the other. Further in, there was a tall bar counter with a couple of high chair and wine glasses hanging from the ceilings. She stared in awe, continuing her little adventure to inspect what kind of gem was hidden behind. True enough, the gorgeous kitchen made of purely marble and the glass dining table certainly didn't disappoint her.
"This place is out of my mind." Aoko breathed.
"Really? Looks boring to me."
Aoko flashed an annoyed gaze at Kaito before fishing out her phone to check the time. They reached just on the dot, but the client hadn't arrive yet. She shrugged. Judging solely by this yacht, she was sure the person must be really rich and busy to afford something like this.
All of the sudden, the sound of an unfamiliar ringing tone softly played. Her eyes shot up and glanced over at Kaito, who was staring back at her too.
"Your call?" Aoko waved the blank screen of her phone.
"Oh." His hand quickly slapped to his back pocket and whipped out a phone that Aoko never seen him used before. Was it a new one? She inclined her head when she saw how Kaito's nonchalant face turned into a little frown once he stared at the screen. He answered the call and turned his back towards her. "Hello." He muttered.
On the cue, her phone suddenly lit up on her hand and she got a little shock that it almost slipped out of her grasp. Regaining her composure, she glanced at the caller's name and gave a little frown that was almost on par with Kaito's.
It was her father.
Aoko was pretty sure their dinner date wouldn't happen until three days later. Was he already so sure it had to be postponed that he called in advance? With that miserable thought, she answered the call and was about to give a disappointed greeting, but her father beat her to it.
"Aoko. Where are you?"
"Eh?" She blinked, a little surprise with the cold and firm voice her father rarely gave to her. Not just his tone, the question was weird too. The little confusion she was feeling didn't help to fix her thoughts carefully as she blindly answered her father's question. She suddenly heard muffled shouts and soft echoes of footsteps tapping everywhere until her father returned her the attention she deserved.
"I'm coming over with my team to pick you up. Stay where you are and don't go anywhere else, even if someone asked you to."
Aoko frowned. Something was definitely absurd right here. There was no reason for her dad to get her today, and moreover bringing his squad just for her? She wasn't some kind of queen that needed escort or anything. It must be something more than that. "Wait a minute. What's wrong?
"Just listen to what I've said." His tone strained with anxiety. "I'll tell you more once I arrive soon."
Hearing how her father spoke in this rare manner, she couldn't find the heart to press on for answers. Aoko sighed when she took a little peek over at Kaito. She had already learnt her lessons before and she wasn't going to repeat the same old mistakes again. Instead of her usual persistence, she gave in and simply agreed to his request.
"Good. Be saf-"
Aoko blinked when the voice cut away and she pulled the phone away from her ear before sighing at the dark screen. Her battery had went flat. It wasn't surprising anyway when she had been out of her house the whole day. She glanced over at Kaito as she kept her phone in her pocket, who still had his back facing her and currently in the middle of his apparent endless conversation. With his low and hush whispers, it was hard to make out what he was talking about, but when she managed to catch a glimpse of his side features, it was rather obvious from his little scowl that it wasn't something pleasant. Was it work related? Jii-chan? Or...
She looked away and stared at the high chairs by the counter before deciding to approach one for a seat. It wasn't her duty to pry.
Just as she sat on the chair to rest her legs, Kaito cut the call and faced her, his expression turning so livid that she was sure she had never seen it before.
"Aoko, we have to lea-"
Beep.
Silence.
Beep.
The sound was coming from underneath the high chair she was sitting, and from the staring contest between her and Kaito, Aoko was pretty sure what they both had in mind were pretty much the same. The same, soft beeping that she recognized and remembered hearing on the first day she met Kaito after two years... The sound that came from the blue bomb she was holding in her hand...
Bomb.
Without a word, Kaito sprinted to her side and bent down to see what was under her chair.
"Please tell me it's a joke." Aoko whimpered. "If you tell me now, I won't hit you as hard as I intended to."
"Believe me. I really want to tell you it's a joke." He pushed himself off the floor and began rummaging through cabinets and cabinets. "But it isn't."
"Oh God."
He came back to her with a toolbox he found and gave a reassuring smile. It was amazing how he could still act so composed at this moment. Or maybe he was too used to this already.
"Do you have your phone? Try contacting the police while you've got the time."
"My battery is dead, but D-dad is on his w-way. He called a while ago and told me he w-wants to pick me up."
"That's good enough."
She gulped, realization slowly dawning upon her. Was this the reason why her father was coming to her? Did he know something like this was going to happen? Why was this happening?! Her lips trembled as she gripped the sides of her seat, knuckles turning white. She took in steady breaths, watching as Kaito slipped under her chair, tools and metal started clinking softly against each other.
Did Kaito knew about this danger as well? He was about to ask her to leave. It must have something to do with the phone call he got a while ago. Thousands of questions were prickling and killing her brain cells, but this was the only way to distract herself from bursting out in tears, which would certainly not help the situation they were in. She didn't need to add on to Kaito's heavy burden.
"H-How long do we have?"
There was a pause. "Four minutes and two seconds." He hesitantly said.
That fast?! She could literally feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears. No. No. No! This can't be-!
"Is your panties red, blue or yellow today?"
She alarmingly widened her eyes and glanced down beneath her chair, though she made sure her butt still remained glued to her seat. His face was mostly covered, but she wanted to make sure her possible cracked voice was directed to him so he could hear her loud and clear.
"W-What a-are you talking a-about now?!"
Kaito slightly shifted his head out between two of the chair's legs, his poker face intact. "There are three coloured wire. Red, blue and yellow. Something typical you see in the movie, but it isn't something I'm used to dispose of."
He once walked on air, teleported from places to places, ran faster than a bullet and even survived one too. There was nothing Kaito couldn't do, and that was what she wished she could believe now too. But...
"Is it s-something you're not confident in?" Aoko's lips quivered.
"So is your panties red, blue or yellow?"
"You can't be seriously doing what you're about to do, right?!" She yelled.
He turned back to the bomb, the chair blocking her view again. "It's a chance I need to take to see what kind of bomb it truly is behind these wires."
A chance. She pursed her lips. Kaito always took bets he knew he could win, but he knew and loved to manipulate it in a way to show as if he was taking a risk in all the decisions he made, making the audiences went cooing and impressed with his mad antics. She'd came up with that conclusion one day after seeing his thousandth sly smirk whenever he wrapped up his magic every time. How despicable, yet remarkable for Aoko's taste.
To think that they would end up in this situation... She had no idea how to bear the burden if the sole chance he ever took on her was wrong. But was there even any other choice?
"I-It's..." Aoko closed her eyes. "It's blue."
"I can almost imagine it."
"Kaito!"
His soft chuckle easily drowned out the beeping of the bomb, but it died down a little too soon and the terrible rhythmically beeping continued to haunt Aoko's head. She heard him taking a deep breath before everything fell into deep silence.
The beeping stopped.
A sweat trickled down her stilled face as Aoko slowly bent forward. She could hear the Kaito's exhale of breath before he wriggled his body out of the chair.
"Are your blue panties your lucky panties?"
She was too relieved to care about the comment. "W-We're safe now?"
He could only show a tired nod.
Aoko closed her eyes and placed her heavy head into the palms of her hands. The sound of her sob got stuck in her throat and she took in one deep breath to get back all the air she was lacking from her nervousness before. This must really be her lucky blue panties. She unsteadily dropped herself off the highchair and was about to afford a helping hand to Kaito when the beeping sound suddenly escalated.
She snapped her neck towards the bomb as Kaito scrambled his way back through the space between the two chair's legs and pressed his fingers tightly to connect the blue wire that he snapped apart. Only when he managed to do it with his fast hands, the rate of the sound returned to how it was before.
The countdown was back. And they only had a minute left.
"Wh-Why?!" Aoko gave a hoarse cry as she kneeled on all fours, unable to withstand the shock that surged through her body. "I thought the bomb had b-been disarmed?"
Although his brows were furrowed, Kaito had the talent to present his usual cool smirk to go along with his troubled looking face. "I supposed this is an undefusable bomb. When I cut the blue wire, the main bomb had stopped temporarily. But once you've moved, the standby detonator was activated. The timer will go probably five times faster than original."
The soft beeping continued.
"So..." Aoko pressed a hand over her mouth. "You mean..."
"I can try to remove the standby detonator but..."
It's all my fault. Her eyes were turning hot from the tears that began to brim her eyes. I'm nothing but a bur-
His smirk fell. "We don't have time left. You got to get out of here, fast."
"Not again!" She exclaimed as she gave a glance at the red numbers on the bomb. Fifty-four, fifty-three... Why did he always regard his life so little compared to hers? She should have stayed while he left. It was her mistake and a trap meant for her, not Kaito. She should be the one saying those words back to him. "I'm not going to leave you here alone! We have to get out of here together!"
He swallowed hard and flicked his gaze to the bomb again. "Alright. When I count to three, run as far as possible. And don't ever look back."
She nodded repeatedly, her throat too numb to speak.
Kaito propped himself up with one elbow, the other hand still pressing the broken blue wire together. "One. Two. Three!"
Her legs and hands practically flew up from the floor as she dashed with the speed her physical body could allow. She ran past the table, the chairs, and out to the deck and gave the highest leap over the metal railings and rolled over the hard floor of the dock. This had been the fastest she had ever ran, faster than all her mop-chasing, faster than the time when she ran away from Kaito after he spoke the truth to her...
There was no sound.
And then an explosion.
The flames and dusts engulfed the entire boat, all its whiteness and majestic feeling had turned to a scene similar to hell. Bits of the yacht floated in the sea, on fire. Huge chunks of the wooden piers that was a safe distance away from her were missing and-
And Kaito.
"Kaito!" She screamed as she flung herself towards the said man who was lying way behind her and a little too dangerously close to the beyond-repaired yacht. She could feel the heat of the flames almost burning her skin once she reached over to him and all she could do was to pull him up and propped his arm over her shoulder and dragged him to a safer distance, or rather till the point when she was too weak to move any further.
Aoko plopped down heavily onto the wooden boards of the dock with Kaito by her side. It would take her some time before she could get back her breathing pace, but she had more important concern she had in mind. Aoko turned the unmoving Kaito and let his front face the sky. She began nudging his face, his shoulders and before she knew it, she was shaking his torso.
"Kaito? Kaito answer me!"
If she had a choice, she would choose to run away from the truth again. But she couldn't waste any time now. Gaining all the courage she had, she shifted his head a little upwards and placed her ear near his mouth.
She couldn't hear any breathing.
Kaito had always been a fast runner, but why was he behind her? Aoko knew he must have lied again. He definitely did. Why was she so stupid to not realize how odd it was when he didn't argue with her like the time at Jii-chan's secret storage room, and also agreed to her almost unrealistic demands so easily? Why hadn't she noticed it?! He clearly had no intention to follow the plan he made up at all.
He let her ride the bet he knew she could win. He took the chance for his own escape instead.
"To hell with you!" Aoko bawled. "The only one sending you there is my fist! Not here! Not now!" She professionally and instantly interlocked her hands, palms down and positioned it a little below Kaito's breastbone with hardened arms and all readied to give the firm, necessity type of strength for the push. She only gave herself one chance to close her eyes, before opening them with a determined look and began pressing her hands down on his body.
Please. Please!
After mentally counting the thirtieth solid push, it was time to give him the first rescue breath. Aoko used a hand to tilt his head back with his forehead and open his airway. Yes. Yes. Yes. She yelled in her mind and played the steps she remembered from her stay at the police academy training centre. Kaito could be saved. He would be saved.
Aoko pinched his nose with her fingers and placed her mouth over his, making a complete seal. She gave a normal breath until his chest rose, which she inwardly cried for happiness when it did. She then proceeded to give a second rescue breathe before going back to compression immediately. The whole process continued on and on and on and on- The only thing that changed in the situation were the tears and sweat streaking down her face.
Where's her father? Didn't he promise he'll arrive soon? Why wasn't he here yet? Kaito couldn't- Her eyes wanted to drift away from her hands to his face, but she was too scared to do it, in fear of shattering her heart once again. This stupid idiot, telling her twice that he'd lost her. Hadn't she lost him too? Was this some kind of competition they were playing? If he really died on her right now, she wouldn't be losing him once or twice. It would be the third time. First he became Kaitou Kid, second he became a liar who didn't want to tell her anything. She lost the Kuroba Kaito she loved and he became those two things she hated to the core. And now he was going to leave her, and she knew that he knew how much she hated to be abandoned and alone... And now he was going to do the third thing she hated the most.
That was one characteristic of his that never changed; Always doing things that frustrated her to the end of the world.
"Didn't you once tell me," she exclaimed between her sobs, "that you'll not leave me until I'm wrinkly, old and dying in the arms of at least ten of our grandchildren?"
Why couldn't he just keep that one promise and let it be truthful till this day? Why was he so bloody selfish? This Bakaito-
Her strength centralizing on her palm was decreasing and decreasing, the sobs and hiccups was overwhelming her and ironically, she was finding herself hard to breathe. Everything was blurry and she tried to blink her tears away, but more only accumulated in her eyes and Kaito soon became part of everything in her foggy vision. Or maybe there wasn't a difference from how he had always been to her in the past. He was never in her sight, even if he was literally with her every time. His body was there, but his soul and mind wasn't, or more like she couldn't see them with her naive eyes. This time round, however, she had awakened enough to visualize a pile of sorry lies and a human form of the phantom thief, heart stopped beating and lying there in front of her.
Still, nothing was going to stop her from pressing down her tired locked hands. Though unwilling to give up, she wasn't sure how her pitiful effort could do any help, even if she really wanted to comfort herself in this situation. She had always been doing her best in everything, so why did she not deserve a happy ending like everyone else too?
"Why do you... always lie to me?"
Aoko gave him the first rescue breath, and then the second again before she weakly positioned herself over his chest again. And just when she wanted to proceed with the compression, Kaito's body began stirring under her skin.
She rushed to his face and began calling out for his name when he abruptly threw into a mad coughing fit. She used all the energy she left within her to lift Kaito's back up and let him rest his side against her chest to prevent him from choking any further.
"Kaito? Kaito!
He slowly peeled open as his blue eyes blinked dazedly at her face and it took nearly an eternity for her to finally receive a respond.
"Ao...ko..."
She wailed, her sobbing and terrible crying face snuggled into his collar. She could feel his hand weakly snaking its way up her arm as he gave a comforting squeeze.
Just then, faint sounds of sirens came not far from where she was, but she was too focused on Kaito to care about the thundering footsteps of firefighters scurrying to the burning scene, and even her father who finally reached to her side after all her prayers.
"Aoko-! Kaito-kun?!" Her father then whirled to one of his subordinates, instructing him to get the paramedics over here.
She didn't care if she was soaking with her sweat, or her face was covered with ugly tear stains. She didn't care how her father and the other police members were looking at her, or how Kaito was even looking at her. She didn't care about anything, but she cared a lot that Kaito was safe in her arms. No matter the thousand litres of tears, the painful betrayals and whatever had happened in the past, or whether she choose to forgive him or whatsoever plans she hadn't decide in the future, he was most importantly alive now.
Because she was stupid, and stupidly still in love with Kuroba Kaito and she couldn't imagine losing him in the way that was irrevocable if she ever wanted him back.
UGHH Please pardon my shitty research on CPR and probably unrealistic handling of bomb. I would've warned you guys at the beginning but I thought it'll be a major spoiler to the chapter so I'll leave my apologies here.
Thanks for reading and leave a thought if you like :)
ps: next chapter is the last. Opps.