Chapter 2: Cops and Robbers
"To paint a picture, you must have details. Otherwise, the picture won't look complete."
The delighted airy tone advised her.
It was odd how vividly she could remember that room despite her young age.
The hard wooden chair that was never comfortable no matter what position you sat on.
The warmth of the sun filtering through the window, filling the large room with a tranquil ambiance.
The clock placed high on the wall annoyingly ticking away, serving as a reminder only to be forgotten more times than not by the two figures present.
The small statue of a crowned woman in robes staring at herself in the mirror while a serpent wrapped around her arm.
It wasn't until she was older that she recognized the figure. It was a statue of Prudentia. The allegorical figure that represented virtue, often presented in par with Justitia, the Goddess of Justice. Prudence in its Latin base, Providentia, meant looking ahead or sagacity.
While she grew to be fond of the figure in her later years, she thought otherwise in her early childhood. She thought of the figure to be vain, too preoccupied by her self image rather than of the deadly serpent slowly making its way to her neck, ready to strangulate the clueless woman. In her mind, the figure served as a reminder to be aware of one's surroundings or else there shall be consequences in turn.
"But we're not painting!"
Was the frustrated and annoyed response she would always mumble, whenever she heard that advice.
The older woman would snort elegantly-as elegant a snort could be-back at her before continuing her lesson of the day, always amused by her reactions no doubt.
She could remember every little decoration or detail in that room, the lessons she was taught, the intonation of her voice, and more. She could remember everything.
She could remember how the woman was always so amused by the things she said or didn't say. The latter she came to realize was due to her expressiveness in not only her face but body as well.
How one of the woman's favorite past time whilst facing the clutches of boredom was to go to a populated area such as a shopping center and just observe people and study their actions and personality.
She could even remember the scenarios she found herself in as soon as she walked through the doors to that room.
The woman was eccentric and frighteningly curious of everything and everyone.
She remembers many things.
Everything except one thing.
For the life of her, she couldn't remember the woman's appearance.
.
.
.
.
She couldn't remember her own mother's face.
What am I doing?
For the past hour, Aoko kept questioning this.
As soon as they arrived at the park's playground, Kaito took one of her hairpins and started running away, yelling out that they were playing cops and robbers and she was the cop.
Dumbstruck, Aoko watched him dangerously put some distance between them before the reality of the situation struck her like a bus and she ran after him, absolutely irritated by the absurdity of it all.
She barely knew the boy!
She has only spoken a few words to him and only knew of his name!
Her irritation flourished as he cocked his head to the side, giving a smug grin before pulling down his eyelid and sticking his tongue out at her.
Her left eye twitched and suddenly she saw red.
Oh he was going down.
She started sprinting after him, closing the distance fairly quickly, smiling like a mad woman hell bent on revenge. Kaito's eyes widen in surprise before he too started to sprint away, determined to win the game at all costs, and it wasn't because he wanted to be the winner, not after seeing death itself chase after him.
As childish it seemed, Aoko absolutely loathe being looked down upon and she felt exactly that whenever she closed the distance between them, only for Kaito to speed up ahead and throw her a smile back at her as if to convey that she wouldn't be able to capture him.
This fueled her to keep going despite passing her physical limitations quite a while ago. That and those impish faces he'd throw in the mix of glances and smiles.
Honestly, their chase must have looked ridiculous from an outside point of view.
The two were leaping over other children like hurdles, swinging into the air with the swings before breaking their fall by tucking and rolling, using the bars of the jungle gym to push off before performing several acrobatics, heck at one point, Kaito started to do parkour and while Aoko wasn't too familiar with the style, she was determined not to be out done by him.
All the while, Aoko kept questioning herself, 'Just what on Earth am I doing?'
But she couldn't help but feel impressed by Kaito's skill and spontaneity.
It wasn't everyday that you'd meet a stranger who had enough gall to steal from you and then force you to do an Olympic training course with them.
It was rare to see anyone, much less a kid her age, that had this level of fitness and after cooling her head from her bursts of irritation, she found it odd.
The way Kaito kept adapting the course once he was sure she was able to keep up, almost made her feel like he was getting a read on her physical attributes.
And that thought alone startled her enough to cause her to lose focus for a split second. She lost her footing and fell face first into the lovely fresh patch of mud in front of her.
She laid there for a moment, cursing her terrible balance and mentally crying over how difficult it will be to remove the stains off her dress before pushing off the ground a bit to be on her hands and knees.
It was then she noticed the hand held out to her.
She looked up and saw Kaito standing in front of her, offering her his hand with a worried expression.
"Are you okay?"
Aoko's focus went down to his hand again.
She never knew what came over her to grab his offered hand and push him into the mud with her, but that's exactly what she did and she savored the surprised high pitched yell Kaito made as he fell.
There was a beat of silence before Kaito's head shot up, mud dripping off of his cheeks and forehead, and gave her a wicked animalistic grin.
Aoko's satisfaction was short lived once she saw the feral grin.
She had to get away from Kaito.
She tried pushing herself upwards to sprint away when a hand shot out and took hold of her ankles, causing her to fall once again face first into the mud.
Her eye twitched as her head lifted from the ground to see Kaito turn red watching her from his seated position before he couldn't hold it any longer and his laughter spilled out causing his whole being to shiver with mirth.
She had it with the monkey.
She tackled him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him from the surprise attack.
Kaito retaliated by grabbing a handful of mud and shoving it into her face and soon the two started mud wrestling.
There was no purpose other than having the sweet satisfaction of seeing the other covered with mud.
After what seemed like an eternity, they were at a standstill. Aoko was able to get the upper hand by a well executed trick on her part.
Kaito had pinned her down so her head was pressed into the mud and her hands were in his hold behind her. With such a compromised position, Aoko had a limited amount of options she could use. She knew her physical strength were lacking so ultimately it only left her with one option.
Aoko started to cry out in pain causing Kaito to loosen his hold immediately, worried that he had gone too far, before Aoko flipped herself around and pushed Kaito back, pinning him to the ground with both her hands beside his head.
Kaito went still in shock, staring up into her victorious eyes.
Aoko stared down at Kaito, determined not to let him get out of her hold and tightened her legs around his to make sure of it.
Both stared into the other's eyes as they fought to catch their breaths. The fatigue was beginning to set in now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
But Aoko could tell Kaito was far off better than she was. While he was breathless, his breathing was far more controlled than her practically hyperventilating state.
Aoko had barely caught the words spilling forth from Kaito's mouth from her pounding eardrums as she tried to calm her breathing.
"I yield. You won."
Kaito sighed out in defeat looking as if he'd lost his country. His eyes grew a glassy shine to them, looking past her to the sky as if to express his inner turmoil.
Aoko ever so intelligent, replied with a "huh," pointedly ignoring Kaito's sudden flair for theatrics.
He rolled his eyes at her, a bit disappointed he didn't get a reaction for his performance, before neutralizing his expression and clarified, "the game."And with Aoko's still vacant eyes he continued, "you know, cops and robbers?"
Aoko's eyes lit up in recognition.
The game that started this hellish workout regime.
Ah that's right! He still had her hairpin.
Aoko's eyes made contact with his. Her breathing finally becoming steady.
"So can I get my hairpin back?"
Aoko's brow furrowed a bit as she watched Kaito made no indication to move and just stare at her.
Was he not planning on returning it?
Did she misread his personality as a playful troublemaker when he was actually a thieving bully?
With that thought, Aoko suddenly became unnerved by his blank stare.
Her hands grew clammy and her chest felt heavy as her thoughts ran amok.
No, she won't let him get away with it.
Not again.
She was different now.
She swore that things were going to change for the better.
She won't let it happen.
"-y. HEY!"
Aoko was startled out of her thoughts with the shout and it was only then that she noticed she was hyperventilating.
"Are you okay?" Kaito asked worriedly, brows furrowed in concerned confusion.
Calm down.
Breathe.
You're fine.
You're fine.
Aoko took a moment to slow her breathing and calm her erratic heart rate before putting on a smile and responding.
"Sorry...I think our game tired me out more than I thought. It's the most exercise I had in one go...What did you say?"
A vague explanation with a half truth to try to cover what transpired but it was the best she could come up at the moment. It was true that this was the most diverse exercise she did in a long while. She just hoped that he wouldn't notice her lie and buy her excuse.
Kaito frowned a bit before all expression left his face once more, giving nothing for her to read.
She never met someone like him before.
How could someone be such a blank canvas?
Truthfully, it unnerved her a bit.
"I said, how can I give your hairpin back while in this position?"
Eh? What does that mean?
It was only then that Aoko noticed that she was still straddling Kaito, restricting his movements.
Aoko, despite being seven, had a wealth of knowledge. In her pursuit of knowledge, she would read a wide variety of books with varying subject matters. From foreign law making policies to fantasy novels, she would read anything she could get her hands on.
Unfortunately, one genre she happened to came across was adult romance novels. Since then she has became uncomfortably aware of...suggestive actions. One she realized she was currently in.
As if touching fire, Aoko all but jumped off him and fell on her behind from backtracking too fast. Her face and the tips of her ears were ablaze in embarrassment.
She watched Kaito lift himself up and dust away as much mud he could off himself as she tried cooling her flaming face.
Aoko stiffened when Kaito turned back to face her. He stared at her for a moment before heading towards her, grimacing slightly.
Aoko was absolutely terrified.
For the past hour that she had come to know Kuroba Kaito, he had always kept his expression neutral except for the occasional slip up every now and then. But here he was, still frowning.
Did I make him angry somehow?
With every step, Aoko curled her legs towards her chest, trying to be as small as possible.
Her mouth opened up, ready to come up with any excuse to try to placate him, only to snap back up when she heard someone call out to Kaito.
"Kaito, honey, I'm back!"
She turned her head towards the direction of the voice seeing a young woman with short auburn hair and blue eyes. A shade or two lighter than Kaito's, she vaguely noted.
The woman, to say the least, attracted attention. Her entire attire she had on were name brand clothing which was quite odd to see at a park, but then again they were near the business and fashion district of town. She had a dozen or so large shopping bags which she switched to one hand to wave wildly in their direction. And she was absolutely stunning.
"Mom?"
Kaito seemed perplexed at her sudden appearance.
His mother continued walking their direction and Aoko was in wonderment as she watched how graceful she walked. Even with heels, walking on an uneven surface like grass would surely make the most balanced and coordinated person to falter in their step at one point, but not for his mother. She walked with confidence and stability, effortlessly in control of every movement she made.
It was like looking at a lioness. Each step made seemed languid and natural. But it was that very natural movement that made it seem so...abnormal somehow. As if her steps were calculated to feel natural.
Which didn't make much sense to Aoko because there was no one in the world who would be this calculative much less at a park.
Nonetheless, Aoko was sure of one thing.
She looked so cool.
Looking back, that was probably when her admiration for Chikage started.
A misunderstanding took place once Kaito's mother, Chikage-san (she insisted on just Chikage but I politely refused, slightly mortified to call her with such familiarity.* Although this made me realize from whom did Kaito inherited his personality.) was near enough to see our muddy appearance.
Chikage had thought Kaito had started a fight with me and he injured me somehow, which I couldn't really blame her as to how she came to this conclusion.
We were both covered with mud from head to toe, both looked exhausted and I was still sitting on the ground, knees curled to my chest, looking tense.
Chikage seemed all but ready to eat Kaito whole when she whipped her face towards her son. Kaito just needed one glance to his mother to realize he should get down on his knees and beg for mercy despite not knowing exactly what he did.
It felt like I was watching some dramatic comedy transpire right in front of me, and before I knew it, I was laughing at Kaito's absurd face when Chikage pulled his ear.
Honestly, this whole day has been ridiculous.
I wiped the tears that streamed my face from laughing too hard.
When was the last time I laughed this hard?
I feel so refreshed.
"...did you get a concussion somehow?," Chikage asked stunned, watching me carefully to see if I sustained any injuries she couldn't visible see.
"Ugh, I think so," Kaito answered instead, rubbing his ear to try to sooth it from the pain, which Chikage in response lightly hit Kaito's head.
"I'm not talking to you."
"Ouch!"
I couldn't help but giggle watching them 'argue.' They seemed more like siblings than mother and son.
Once I was able to calm down my laughter, I tentatively stood up and called out to Chikage and explained the situation to her of how we meet and decided to play a game here at the park.
"Oh I see, but then why were you on the ground bleeding?" Chikage nodded before tilting her head to the side in question.
Bleeding?
I looked down at myself to see the palms of my hands were scratched up and bleeding slightly.
I just shrugged my shoulders and confusedly replied, "I have no idea how this happened. It might have been when I fell just before you came."
I didn't even notice the injury much less felt it yet she was able to notice it in the few seconds she had met me. She must have some crazy perspective skills.
Kaito looked...bothered when Chikage mentioned my palm.
It was hard to read him with that blank face but somehow I got that feeling as I looked at him.
Maybe I should get some books on how to read body language when I visit the library next time to try to understand him better.
Wait, next time?
Will there even be a next time?
I mean, do I even want there to be a next time?
"-Aoko?" Chikage called out, knocking me out of my thoughts as I turned my head to face her which also made me realize I was staring shamelessly at Kaito all this time.
She stared at me expectantly, so I responded with a confused and embarrassed "yes?," hoping she hadn't noticed my absentmindness.
Chikage's face lit up as she clapped her hands together.
"Great! I'm so glad you agreed! Alright, we should probably get going before it gets too late."
Huh? Late for what?
I stood there rooted to my spot as Chikage and Kaito started to move away from me.
"Hey, aren't you coming?" Kaito asked looking back at me when he noticed I wasn't following them.
What do you mean? Coming where?
Chikage stopped as well when she heard Kaito.
"Is something wrong, Aoko-chan?"
Everything is wrong! What are they talking about?
"Uhhh"
I nervously fidgeted in my spot wanting to ask what exactly did I agree to but my insecurity of being viewed as an ignorant child in the end triumphed.
"No, it's nothing Chikage-san."
"Alright, just stay close so you don't get lost." Chikage smiled as she and Kaito continued forward.
I sighed heavily before resigning to my fate and started to trail after them.
So much for stranger danger huh?
Dad is going to kill me.
*Just to clear this up, I will be writing their names without the honorifics just so it is easier to read despite it being in Aoko's POV. The exception is when Aoko speaks about someone directly or indirectly out loud, as seen a bit later in the same scene. That is the only time in which I will write out the honorific seeing as it is her character to do so.
AN: Welp, here we are again. Somehow it's a bit difficult to write them as children especially seeing as I keep imagining them as teenagers, but then again, it was shown that both Aoko and Kaito are quite intelligent. Hopefully, Aoko getting irritated at Kaito seemed natural. I hoped to show a bit of their childish nature by making Aoko giving into her emotions more although I couldn't help making Kaito cool as a cucumber with his poker face.
Anyways, as always, thank you for reading!
Please tell me what you think?