Thanks for the Memories (3)

Many considered Aoko friendly and someone trustable to talk to—at least that was what most of the people she knew said—but even when it had been more than half a year since Kaito moved in; seeing him consistently in her life, hearing his superficial interests and dealing with his exaggerated feelings and whatnots, friendly and trust were things they still didn't really have for each other.

Basically, she wasn't sure if she treated him as her friend. Besides, she didn't know what he regarded her as well other than a tenant that knew how to cook curry (But it wasn't as if she needed or wanted to know where she was positioned in his life, nuh-uh).

So, even after all these months passed, she never inquired about his life. Not about his family (that precious photograph), about his relationship with Kudo Shinichi (which seemed bad rather than good) or about Hakuba Saguru (the misfortune she would never know).

It was something like a give and take. She would only take as much as she was given, which was none. He never once showed any intention to tell her anything. Nothing about why he was occasionally gone from home, where he went during those day or what he did. Not a single clue. Like a mystery. A suspense thriller. Always keeping her guessing, wondering when he would come back. Because that was something he never told her too.

That was why when he told her "I'll be out and back by evening," as she just returned from her grocery shopping, she was utterly baffled and surprised, so much that she stood outside her door, trying to digest his words despite how he'd long disappeared down the corridor and stairs.

I should make curry, was all she could think of after she went into her apartment, even though the ingredients she bought were for the purpose of making tempura. Then somewhere in between of chiding herself for suiting to Kaito's preference and wondering if curry was a better idea for dinner, fate helped her made her decision when she couldn't find her fryer pot.

Curry it was.

Half an hour later, she headed out for the supermarket again.

It would just be a simple, extra purchase. No need for a memo. No need for a basket. Aoko skipped through the sections by heart, walking past the shelves until she stopped to the one she came for. She grabbed a small pack of potatoes, along with some more vegetables she found (because Kaito needed them, that undernutrition-idiot), and headed to the cashier.

All paid and bagged, she went home, whistling on her way. Everything had been going on quite smoothly for her lately, which explained her good mood. Her writing schedule was on track and her time management had improved enough to spend more quality time with her favourite people. The thought of meeting her father over the weekend made her lips tug, until when she was nearing her apartment and saw some weird, thick black clouds above the building.

Frowning, she increased her pace. She saw a crowd had gathered when she got closer home, and her stomach gave a nasty flip when she realized the black cloud she saw wasn't actually black clouds.

There was a fire. Thick, red-burning fire was enveloping the top of the building, at the same time producing black smoke as it filled the air, turning the originally beautiful orange-tinted sky to something ugly to look at.

Aoko hastily joined the crowd. There were a few people who just saw the fire and they were all frantically asking questions despite the obvious—just like herself. Among the angsty people, she managed to spot someone calm, someone who probably stayed there the longest to know what had exactly happened.

"Kenji-san!" Aoko called out; the neighbour below her floor who loved to play the guitar once in a while. She remembered those nights when Kaito and her stood on their balconies, silently listening to the strums of his guitar, feeling the-

This wasn't the time to think about that.

Kenji turned, relief washed over his features. "Aoko-chan! What a blessing you're out of your apartment! We've been trying to contact you when you weren't in the headcount!"

She dropped her bags of groceries onto the ground. "The fire-"

"A fire broke out on the top floor. Seems like it's from Kaito-kun's apartment." Kenji squinted his eyes as he stared at the flames. "Luckily Sawaka-san was coming home from work and saw the smoke. It wasn't big yet then and we've evacuated everyone out."

Kaito's…? Aoko glanced up, teeth digging into her bottom lip. "Has anyone contacted the fire brigade?"

"They're on their way."

Aoko sighed in relief and dug her bag for her phone. Indeed there were a total of five missed calls, all coming from her different neighbours. She glanced around, trying to find more familiar faces. Perhaps she could go around and inform them that she was safe. It was the least she could do when they were concerned.

She was about to pick up her groceries when she dropped them on the ground again. "Did anyone see Kaito?"

Kenji shook his head before widening his eyes. "Wait, you don't think he's-"

"He's not in. He went out and told me he'll be back by evening." Aoko glanced at her phone's clock. It was already evening though…

"Perhaps his kettle caught fire because he didn't take care of it?" Kenji's frown told Aoko he wasn't even convinced about his own guess. She wasn't convinced too, obviously. How was it possible for a fire to break out when his home didn't even have a mug, much less a kettle. It was too bare and empty to-

Aoko widened her eyes.

Almost as if her knees gave way, she squatted down and began emptying the content of her bag. Her purse, along with some loose coins and water bottle, rolled out, and she shook a little bit more until the handkerchief she needed fell out. Unscrewing her bottle, she poured the water and soaked her entire handkerchief, turning it one shade darker than before.

Kenji, who was silently staring at Aoko the entire time, seemed to understand what she was about to do. He shook his head vigorously, "Aoko-chan, are you-?"

"I need to go back."

"Go back? That's insane!" Kenji grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. "It's too dangerous!"

She placed a hand over Kenji's hand, giving it a squeeze. "It's only for a moment. I'll return soon."

Aoko had a feeling if Kaito was here, he might do what she was going to do. And she would be like Kenji, trying to convince him otherwise but on another level by calling him even meaner things that involved his brain cells and value for his own life. In the end, still, she bet he would just grin at her, shrug her hands off, and ran away like the wind

But he wasn't here, wasn't back by evening like he promised. But maybe it was all the better. Because if she had to be in the role of Kenji, she might as well just be the one jumping into the fire; it was equally torturing.

Slapping the damp handkerchief over her mouth, she dashed for the stairs.

.o.

"Are you not scared?" Aoko remembered asking Kaito after he hopped onto his railings and wobbled on it for a few seconds (she knew he was just putting on a show to rile her up) before jumping over to the safe ground of her balcony.

His dusted his hands even though he didn't use them. "Nope."

"How?" Aoko frowned. She'd listed all the jobs she could think of that involved heights; circus performer, fireman, rock-climber instructor, pilot and even as far as a window cleaner. But he was none of those.

"How what?"

"How are you not scared?"

"Determination." He grinned when he noticed her confused gaze. "Because all that was in my head wasn't the fear of falling to my death. It was my determination to get over. To you."

Aoko shivered and rubbed a hand down her arm to ease the hair that stood. "This is the most cheesiest thing I've ever heard."

"Believe it or not, it's true." He said, which was ironic because it didn't sound as convincing as the times he teased about his feelings for her (even though she didn't believe it either). But before Aoko could continue the conversation, he ended it by walking past her and into her living room with a skip. "So," he turned, eyes glinting with glee. "What are you cooking for dinner tonight?"

Now, thinking back about the conversation, Aoko understood what Kaito meant that day.

Determination.

That was really all she needed to get her up and standing on her balcony railings with toes curling over the edge.

Aoko looked across to Kaito's balcony. Black fumes was seeping out the gap of Kaito's balcony door, with specks of red sparks and dusts flying out and into the distance too, blending into the orange setting sun. Despite a distance, Aoko could feel the immense heat all the way here. She took in a deep breath, which she regretted immediately as she spat, trying to get rid of the disgusting, choking feeling at the back of her throat. She held her breath and flipped her handkerchief to a new side before slapping it over half of her face again.

She glanced to the sky.

It was getting dark soon.

No. Don't look anywhere else. She gulped and stared ahead. Don't. Don't!

Aoko tried to remember Kaito's words again. Yes. Nothing should be in her head. Not about the height. Not about her trembling legs. Her line of sight, attention and focus should be on the floor of his balcony, the spot where Kaito always stood and watched her from his side.

She almost imagined him standing there.

No. No. Not that too. Stop thinking. Stop thinking. Not about the height. Not about her trembling legs. And not about him. Not now, at least.

There should only be one thing in her mind.

Slowly as Aoko shifted her stiff legs on her railing, she pressed the handkerchief hard against her face and prepared her stance.

If he can do it, I can do it too.

With that, Aoko jumped.

.o.

There was a ringing sound in Aoko's ear for as long as she remembered after bursting out of Kaito's apartment door and into the arms of two firemen. They were angry was sort of an understatement, but she didn't retaliate or try to defend herself as they helped her down the building.

First thing first, she clearly knew the terrible risk she had took, and there was no excuses for her actions at all. Second… the ringing in her ears still hadn't stopped, and she could barely hear anything the firemen said, even till they brought her to a standby ambulance.

After the firemen went off, a male paramedic put an oxygen mask over her head and began tending to her right hand that got a slight abrasion (she didn't even realize she got it actually). He was particularly talkative too, but being unable to read his lips at all, she only watched his mouth moved at a fast speed, until her hearing slowly came back to her.

"...and people died because they think they're capable, but they are wrong in the end. You got to count yourself lucky. For you to be sitting here after that ordeal, it's all pure luck, okay. Nothing else. Don't even think that you'll be safe the second time."

Aoko smiled. He almost sounded like her dad, like that one time she fell off a swing when she was five because she swung it too high, thinking that by some chance maybe she could fly. Turned out she was wrong, of course.

The paramedic looked up, eyes narrowing when he caught her smile. Aoko quickly brushed it off.

"That thing that you risked your life for," he asked after a pause. "What made you do it?"

"Determination." Aoko mumbled behind the mask, the word flowed out before she even caught what she said.

He frowned, obviously disapproving the answer as he returned to check her bandaged hand. "Determination?" He echoed.

She gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah."

"The answer I expected was because it's important to you."

Aoko shook her head. "It's not mine. It's my landlord's."

His head jerked up as he raised both of his eyebrows. "Your landlord's? Are you kidding the hell out of me?"

She couldn't blame him for the reaction. Now that she heard it out from her mouth, it did sound rather stupid. Just a little. "Well-"

"What's the landlord to you?"

Aoko blinked. "He's just my landlord."

"Then he must be one hell of a landlord, for you to have that hell of a determination to get his thing for him."

"...For a paramedic, you sure say a lot of the word hell."

"Because I've seen it too many times." He gestured to the burnt building behind him. Tempted, though slightly reluctant, Aoko peered over his shoulder and stared at the mess, rather than the home she loved. Though the fire—the red blaring hell—was put out and gone, the upper building badly needed a repaint for the charred and tainted exteriors.

Aoko pursed her lips.

"I've done what's needed to dull the pain and prevent infection. There still a need for you to go to the hospital to get a full check-up." The paramedic said before pointing to the other side of the crowd. "I'll be tending to another patient. Rest here."

"Okay. Thank you."

The paramedic left, leaving Aoko alone with nothing but her filled thoughts. No, maybe not. She shifted her seat, revealing the photo frame she hid behind her all the while. There, staring back at her, was Kaito's mom, Kaito's dad, and small, happy Kaito.

The photograph—the only thing that made his apartment a home—was all he had. With his apartment gone, this was indeed all he had left.

She picked it up and brushed a finger down the chipped wooden frame. Like what she guessed and hoped before she made the jump over, she found the photograph under his pillow like like the last time she saw it. And now that she got it, she wasn't sure what to do next for step two.

Her face felt prickling hot again, almost like that moment when she was face to face with the fire, just that there wasn't any and it all came from her stupid embarrassment. It suddenly occurred to her that the step two involved giving back the photo frame to Kaito, and she wasn't sure how without confessing that she knew this much about him, almost like a crazy stalker-

"Are you crazy?!"

Aoko straightened, glancing up. Incoming was a figure stomping towards her, and before the light from the ambulance car managed to make out the shape of his face and features, she already recognized the voice and strides.

Kaito approached, towering over and taking up all the space around her. His brows were furrowed and lips were pursed, and he looked worse than what she ever seen of him. Worse than Shinichi's confrontation, and worse that Akako's appearance.

It seemed her step two had started on a bad note.

"Kenji said you went back to the burning building." He growled, eyes narrowing.

She scooted on the edge of the ambulance car and adjusted the oxygen mask over her face nervously. "Um…"

"Was it for your computer? Your writing drafts-" His outburst stopped when he glanced past her injured hand and to the photo frame she was holding. As if someone casted an instant spell, his features contorted with various emotions passing through, and then something even terrible happened—his face went blank.

Unsure about what she could do, Aoko tentatively raised her arm and showed him the photo frame. "I… went back to get this."

A long moment had passed before he finally took the frame from her hand. His fingers stroked the side as he stared at the photograph, and the silence only emphasized how empty his eyes were.

Kaito looked—

(bereft, and so very lonely… His shoulder slouched like the world was weighing him down, yet it was ironic because it looked like the world was the one that abandoned him)

—just like that night at the balcony long time ago.

"Don't ask how I know about it." She tried for a smile, desperately hoping to see at least a hint of a smile in return, but his lips didn't move. "Just take it as-"

"Why did you do that?"

It wasn't the way he interrupted her that stunned her shock to a mute. It was his voice; The curtness, so cold and steely. And for a moment Aoko thought she heard someone else's voice rather than his.

Her twisted throat made her choke behind the oxygen mask. "I… I thought it's important to you."

"It is," he looked up, and Aoko held her breath at the sight of his face. His eyes were wide and unspeakably sad, and she could tell he was straining himself to not let any more of his emotions to show.

It was such a horrible thing to see.

"But it's just a photo." His voice was so low, so tired. "No matter what, they're already gone."

Oh.

Oh, no.

"Kai…" Her chest swelled with ache, so much that it was hard to breathe, much less talk.

"If anything happens to you… I- What am I supposed to do?"

There was no tease, no mockery. Nothing.

And she had no idea what to say.

He sighed, his eyes scanning across her wearily. "Are you okay?" He finally asked.

"Yeah." She replied, but with the oxygen mask and bandaged hand, it wasn't really that convincing at all.

But he didn't argue, or force her to admit that no, nothing was okay (not for her and him too). He only nodded in reply before he turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd with the photo frame in his hand.

He never once looked back—and with the best of her efforts, she tried to convince herself it had nothing to do with the sinking feeling that was pulling her chest down.

Aoko honestly felt lost, not just because of her possible destroyed home or belongings, but it was the pang of regret for doing the thing she thought was right.

What made it worse was it all turned out wrong.

.o.

Apparently the Fire Accident, as what everyone called it, appeared on the news later at night. She did notice a few reporters lingering around the scene beforehand, interviewing witnesses and some abled casualties, but she was lucky to not get involved as her paramedic returned no sooner to drive her to the hospital in the ambulance. She thought she was lucky, because if anyone asked her for comments, she wasn't sure what to say.

But in truth, tons of things were flooding her mind like a dam that broke.

Was it really as simple as an accident? For a house that didn't even have a kettle or a damn pot, where the hell could the fire come from? Accident? Misfortune? What were the possibilities they were related? But she knew better than to think too much and kill her brain cells. With most of the information kept confidential and classified, as a resident and citizen, there was nothing else to do but to believe it was all a Fire Accident.

Putting the tragedy aside, this broadcasted incident helped to shine out who were her true friends, and Aoko was more than touched to know that all of them were. The help and love she received were immense, and out of the countless offers, she decided to stay at Keiko's house for the time being until things settled down. She explained to her father on the phone, left Jii a voice message (she didn't have Kaito's number) and sent everyone her thanks. By the time she finished her hospital check-up and was released, Keiko was waiting for her at the lobby with open arms.

Without much of her belongings, Aoko spent the entire night and the following day simply resting indoor, flipping through both magazines and channels on the television. Despite how she'd been to Keiko's house a ton in the past and treated this place almost like her home, she still missed everything that was hers; the fluffiness of her bed, the light her fridge emitted, the fresh air on her balcony and-

And what?

Keiko was always nice, and she was also a good conversationalist. Since their dinner a while ago, they had been talking non-stop in her bedroom about everything and anything, just nothing related to the Fire Accident. Aoko was sure she never explicitly told Keiko that she didn't want to talk about it, but she might be showing her reluctance too obviously as well. Some things may be good to share to let off the burden, but not for this.

"And then my colleague was like-"

Halfway through Keiko's story telling about what happened during her work, the doorbell rang.

"...Who could it be at this hour?" Keiko raised from the floor, her nose scrunching before she looked at Aoko. "What's the chance that it's a serial killer?"

Aoko laughed. "If I'm writing the story, it'll be over 80 percent."

"Wow. Thanks for the comfort." Keiko scoffed as she left her bedroom. "Back me up, okay."

"Sure."

A few moments later, while keeping herself occupied by looking through the emails on her phone, Keiko suddenly returned and appeared by the door, her face flushed from both the running and what seemed like shock, considering how wide her eyes were.

"Keiko?" Aoko straightened and put her phone aside. "What's wrong?"

"Y-Your landlord's here."

"What?" Aoko scrambled to her feet and dashed out of the room. "Kaito?"

Following behind Aoko, Keiko cracked her knuckles, face puffed in fury. "I feel like punching Ozawa right now." She huffed.

Aoko glanced past her shoulder, but her stride to the door was still fast, still urgent. "What are you talking about?"

"He said your landlord is good-looking. But I didn't know your landlord is-"

"Aoko-chan."

Aoko stopped in the middle of the living room, her eyes grew wide at the guest she wasn't expecting instead. "Jii-san." She stared at the old man standing at the entrance, his usual smile plastered on his face.

"Jii-san?" Keiko gasped, looking between the two of them. "He's not that Kaito-?"

Glancing embarrassingly at Jii, Aoko shook her head. "I'll tell you about it later."

Thankfully, Keiko got the hint and didn't press further. She squeezed Aoko's arm as a silence assurance and retreated to her room while Aoko walked to the door.

"Jii-san, good evening. What brings you here?"

"Sorry to disturb you and your friend." Jii said, taking out a large envelope from his work bag and handed it to her. "This is for you."

Tilted her head, Aoko took it and unsealed the cover to look at the content. There were tons of papers inside.

"This is…?"

"These are the details of the insurance we've bought for all the residents. Do read through to see if all is fine and let me know."

"I see. I'll look at it later." Aoko nodded, caressing the envelope. "Thank you for coming all the way down."

"No worries. With all the troubles that happened, this is the least I can do."

The gratified smile didn't last long on her lips as she lowered her tired gaze to the floor. She intended to apologize to Jii for Keiko's outburst, but she thought better of it; she was sure her own disappointing look on her face was much ruder than what Keiko did.

It was better to not mention anything.

Sighing inwardly, she took in a deep breath, to build up her courage to get the ball of the conversation rolling again. "How is Kaito?" Aoko asked.

"He's fine."

She wanted to know more than that. About how he was coping with his destroyed apartment, where he was living, what he was going to do and many more things that she had been thinking about, but all those words died in her throat, just like every time.

Jii seemed to understand her concerns, or at least was kind enough to update her even though she didn't (couldn't) ask. "He's currently busy with some matters and that's why I'm here in his stead."

"And not because he's angry at me?" Aoko blurted. At least her tongue managed to work this time.

"Of course he is." Jii said, which made Aoko jerk her head up in surprise. "You endangered your life." He continued.

Right, Kaito must have told Jii about it. Aoko lowered her gaze. "I'm-"

"But I'm sure he's not angry at you anymore. If he is, you wouldn't be the first on the list of people he wanted me to check and pass the documents to."

Aoko's head jerked up again, this time eyes wide from shock instead of shame.

"Besides that, I want to thank you too. No one would have done what you did for Kaito, and I have to admit that I wouldn't too." Jii said, filling up the silence that Aoko couldn't break. "That photograph is important to him."

She fiddled with the corner of the envelope, her eyes darting across the floor before she looked at Jii after finding the voice in her to speak. "The photograph… His parents…"

His warm smile fell, just a little. "They passed away in an accident when he was young. I took care of him ever since."

Aoko widened her eyes. She wasn't sure what shocked her more; The fact that she expected the answer, or because Jii was strangely open about telling her the truth, or how the word accident echoed in her head so distinctively, almost close to an alarm.

"Anyway," Jii cleared his throat. "I shall not disturb you and your friend. Goodnight."

"Ah, yeah...Thank you too, and goodnight."

Aoko closed the door after Jii left, and not knowing what to do, she stood there, letting the time to tick-

"I heard the door closed but you didn't come back in-" Keiko frowned, her steps turned tentative as she approached Aoko. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Aoko rubbed an eye. "I think I just need a long sleep."

"Yes you should. I'll help prepare the futon."

"Thanks."

She stared at the envelope in her hand. Yes, she got a lot to read. She needed to check on her apartment and belongings soon, going through what could be salvaged and what could not. If something was wrong, she definitely had to extend her writing deadlines, and there would be more penalties, more troubles. But first, she needed her sleep. All these head-aching problems could be dealt tomorrow.

(Strange as it seemed, she wondered why it was her heart that ached more than what should have been her head)

.o.

Aoko thought Miracles and Luck were two different thing. It'd take a miracle for anyone to sleep through the loud and annoying construction noises next door—All the hammering and drilling of the burnt walls and ceilings. Luck, for Aoko, was when the construction always stopped after she stepped out of her house. It was an accurate representation of how rotten her luck was.

Similarly, it'd take some kind of luck to see a pigeon resting on Kaito's balcony railings when she was on her own balcony too. And it'd take more than a miracle for that pigeon to be the same one Kaito saved and nurtured back then.

How long has it been since that incident? One month ago? Three months ago? But it all seemed insignificant when the memory was as clear as it being yesterday's, and that was the magic with time, especially when you just want it to move backwards.

The pigeon cooed, its beady eyes staring at Kaito's balcony door.

All pigeons looked the same, same for those cooing sound they made. But it'd been ages since she saw any living thing on that balcony, and she craved for an interaction more than she thought she would.

Besides, there was nothing wrong with wishing for a miracle too.

"Hey." Aoko said in a loud voice, but just enough not to scare the pigeon away.

It looked at her briefly, cocked its head, and looked away again.

"Here to visit your papa?" She asked, whistling. "He's not here, you know."

The pigeon didn't bother to give her a glance anymore.

"Don't believe me, huh?" Aoko huffed. "Are you throwing a tantrum and ignoring me?"

Silence was its best answer.

Aoko chuckled, shaking her head. "Say," she said, leaning heavily against her railings as she stared into the distant. "Do you... miss him? Your papa."

The pigeon cooed.

She turned, and surprise hit her to another level when she realized it was looking at her. Her lips curled up, but weirdly, she didn't exactly feel happy.

It felt a little bittersweet.

"You're not alone." Aoko sighed. "I... I think I miss him too."

The sound of the drills suddenly shrill in the air, the construction started again after the workers probably finished their ten minutes break or so. Aoko was a little more immune to these noises, but the pigeon obviously wasn't. It flapped its wings from the shock and flew away, never once looked back as it disappeared into the sunset, along with the words of Aoko's confession.

Gone.

.o.

A week had passed after the construction was finished and Aoko's grand peace had returned, including the one that Kaito stolen away from her since the day he moved in.

He never returned or came by to check on his home. Jii was the one responsible for that during the construction period, and whenever Aoko saw him, she was tempted to ask about Kaito. But in the end she never did, and Jii never tell her too. It wasn't because of wanting to keep her pride. She was more than half sure Kaito didn't want Jii to tell her anything, and if she asked, it was the matter of his privacy at stake, not her pride. If him keeping everything a secret was what he wanted, she supposed she should respect it.

It just sucked that this made her feel disappointed as well.

Aoko was up early today even though she slept in late last night. She rolled off her bed and dragged her feet to the balcony, doing what she always did every morning even though so many things had changed. The weather seemed great, judging from her bedroom window. She was expecting a good view of the fluffy clouds and the busy park below, which would definitely help to perk her mood. But when she stepped onto her balcony, hand under her shirt while rubbing her belly, what she didn't expect was a man standing in front of her.

They both widened their eyes in sync.

Aoko was the first one to react as she screamed, just as loud as the first time she met the man face to face. All that was needed was a door to slam his foot, and it'd just be the exact same scenario all over again.

"Ow." Kaito cringed and rubbed his ears. "It's too early in the morning for an opera-singing session, you crazy woman."

"You're the crazy one!" She yelled and pointed accusingly at him. "Standing here on my balcony and scaring the hell out of me!"

His exaggerated-agonised face faltered to a smirk. "Ok, fine. Let's try this again," he cleared his throat. "Good morning, I didn't expect you to be up so early."

Suddenly aware of her appearance, she pulled the collar of her oversized T-shirt up her neck, as if that would totally deter the fact that she was missing her bra. "Before we start, I need to get changed first."

She was surprised he didn't tease her and only nodded as a reply. It was just a month since she last saw him but the change of his behaviour felt drastic, and she wasn't sure if the unusual solemnity in the air had to do with this odd feeling too. Temporarily ignoring it, she dashed out of her balcony and to her bedroom before slamming it behind her to do what she needed to do.

When she came out of room with fresh clothes and a bra, Kaito had left her balcony and entered her living room, but he wasn't sitting on her sofa like what she thought he would—He was standing close to her balcony door, arms crossed and isolating himself away from her furniture.

Instinctively, the gear in her writing-obsessed head began to move. She always loved describing things and people she saw like how she described her characters in her books; from the big picture down to the minute details such as the quirk of their lips and even the tightness of the arms around their chest. Her hobby of describing them was so she could picture and understand them more clearly in the head.

He is… He is…

But no matter how hard Aoko tried, it was pointless. Seeing Kaito standing there made her mind as blank as those earlier days of her writing drafts. Part of her brain was trying to save energy, maybe, because she knew no matter how she tried to describe him in her head, she could never understand him anyway, and it was a fact that she'd been trying not to face.

He is just Kaito.

Mirroring his demeanour, she crossed her arms. "So, what are you doing here?"

She regretted her question the second it left her mouth. Every day she would replay the night of the fire in the head; that feeling of the photo frame in her hand and the sharp gaze Kaito had on her. But even so, despite all the could-have-beens she had imagined, nothing was able to prepare her to continue their last conversation that didn't have an end. She wasn't ready for that.

Her heart wasn't ready.

"I just wanted to leave some things." He answered.

Aoko blinked. She was glad it wasn't what she dreaded, but she was still confused. "Leave some things?"

Gesturing his head to her coffee table, Aoko glanced over and noticed a bag on it. She trudged forward and tried to take a peek inside. There were a couple of things, and she took them all out. First was a plate, then a spoon, a pink tray, and finally a mug.

It was the set of tableware she lent him many, many months ago.

"I-I thought they were…?"

"These are new ones; yours were all destroyed in the… fire." If one could sigh and speak at the same time, Kaito definitely did it for the last word. "I tried to find the same designs, and I guessed I succeeded since you didn't notice until I tell you."

Aoko really couldn't tell, or more like she couldn't remember the exact designs anymore. But it was still familiar, like the flower patterns of the plate and the tiny dolphin logo on the handle of the spoon. And that said, for the borrower to remember the details better than the owner, she was surprised, especially when the borrower never once showed concern over such insignificant things.

"Thank you for lending them to me." Kaito said.

She scoffed. "I thought you wanted them as a gift."

"I don't need them anymore."

She spent the last two seconds trying to digest his words, but her heart was the one aching from the poison instead. Words are dangerous and powerful weapons, and Aoko truly understood what it meant now.

The abrupt odd silence caused something to change in Kaito's expressions, as if he realized what the effect of his words had on her, but she cut in before he could take them back.

"Does that mean you're leaving?" She asked.

He opened his mouth a few time, and closed them again.

She helped him speak what was on his mind. "You're returning these things to me because you don't need them in your temporary home anymore, right? In other words, you're leaving for good."

His face was blank at first, but a small smile slowly spread across his cheeks, and it was so unfair, because that was all he needed to do to bring back all the memories they shared; those curry-eating sessions and long night talks under the stars.

But despite what Aoko thought were happy moments, his eyes were sad.

"Yeah." He slowly nodded. "I've stayed here far longer than I expected, and far longer than I should."

"Then where are you going?"

He stared out of balcony, his eyes growing distant. "A little further south from here."

Aoko had no idea if he was serious or joking, but either way nothing gave her the mood to laugh. She narrowed her eyes, giving up on pursuing for an answer and moved on. "You said your stay here is recreational. It's always been more than that, right?"

"Perhaps."

"And that's it?"

Kaito tilted his head to her. "What?"

"Why aren't you saying your usual catch phrases? 'Oh, I bet you can't bear to leave me.' and also your favourite, 'Are you in love with me?'. Don't you always tease me with those stupid things? Why aren't you saying them now?"

Something breezed past his face, but other than that, he stayed silent.

"Guess what?" She continued, her throat slowly twisting to a painful, sour knot. "You got them right. You got them all right. Aren't you happy now? I was once so used to having the balcony all to myself, enjoying the tranquillity and my thoughts uninterrupted. But now I couldn't stand there for a minute without hoping that you'd pop in and give that stupid grin. And it makes me sick to think that you're not going to be here anymore."

His lips parted. "Aoko-"

"It's all your fault."

Looking away, he stared at the tableware. "I never wanted to hurt you." He said softly

"You already did when you left without a goodbye." She blurted it out without realizing what she said.

Kaito mulled over her words for a while, his brows creased as he did. Finally, he closed his eyes. "If it's a goodbye you want, I can give it to you."

She looked at him in disbelief. There was no trace of emotions found on his face, but when he opened his eyes, Aoko was sure he wasn't joking at all. It was that moment when she badly wanted to tell him she didn't need that goodbye anymore, but her throat trapped her words inside, unable to speak.

Instead, she begged him with her eyes.

Don't you dare-

"Goodbye." He whispered.

Cruelly (oh so cruel indeed), he turned and left for her door. The sound of it closing made Aoko's legs give way as she slumped onto the floor and cried into her hands for the next half-an-hour.

She should know it much better than anyone else, that no matter how badly one wishes for it, a story doesn't always get to end with a happily ever after all.

.o.

"Now that we have the dates ready, everything is good to go!" Sakura, Aoko's publisher in charge, smiled as she briefly went through her scribbled-filled page of her notebook with satisfaction. Aoko thought the page was blank at the start of the meeting, which happened less than an hour ago, but now she could barely see any white space on the book.

"I can't wait for it be released." Ozawa grinned, nudging Aoko in the shoulder and gave a wink. "This might be the best book yet."

"I can't wait too." Aoko nodded and tried to give an equally enthusiastic smile back. It might be easier if her eyes weren't puffy and swollen from the past few weeks of insomniac nights.

"Oh, and one last important thing before we go grab some lunch together." Sakura turned toward Aoko. "Do you have anything for the dedication page? I didn't see it along with the manuscript." She then looked at Ozawa for confirmation. "Or did I miss it out?"

"I didn't receive any." Ozawa shook his head, glancing at Aoko. "I wanted to ask you too."

Right, Aoko had completely forgotten about that. In the past she was always excited about it—wanting to thank so many people in her life for helping her through the journey in publishing the book. Her dad, all her friends, Ozawa (especially), and even one of her neighbours that lived a few floors below because she was just so friendly.

Now she wasn't sure who to thank, or rather, how to thank, when the person was already gone-

Screw that. She would do it for herself. Not a dedication but a message. Her self-delusional comfort, if she had to admit.

"Yeah. I have something to write."

"That's great!" Sakura pushed her notebook and pen to Aoko.

Finding whatever space available, she wrote her words down:

I hope you liked the curry.

.o.

"How did the book interview go?"

Aoko turned after the door of the interview room closed. She watched Keiko skipping towards her, her signature pigtail doing its own little bounces too.

It was tiring, really, but seeing how Keiko sat outside the interview room just to wait for her, Aoko didn't find any rights to complain. Her mood did lighten up after seeing her friend anyway. "The same few questions." Aoko said. "What's your inspiration for the newest book… What is the writing process like, etcetera."

"And what did you say?"

"Like always, I answered the same thing."

Keiko reacted as if someone just told her the moon was made out of cheese. "No way! I thought it should be a different answer this time!"

"There's nothing different-"

"It's about Reo!" Keiko chimed, whipping out the book she'd been hiding behind her back.

"What- I didn't know you brought the book along!"

"Duh! I'm re-reading it the second time and it's still so good."

Aoko blushed, walking away. "Please don't say that aloud."

"Why not?" Keiko caught up to her strides pretty fast. "I love them!"

"You said that two days ago."

"Because I think you haven't heard it enough. Anyway, while you were inside being interviewed, I came up with some interview questions of my own for you." Keiko exclaimed as she flipped to a page where she left a dog-ear and jammed her finger into the paper, so hard Aoko thought she wanted to drill a hole through it. "Do you remember this paragraph where you described Reo's arms in details? I didn't know you have a fetish for it."

Aoko ignored the last comment. "Oh, I remember this page."

Keiko grinned. "So, what's the writing process like?"

"I spent half an hour looking through the thesaurus just to find another word for firm." It was the truth though, and seeing how Keiko's face suddenly fell, Aoko almost wanted to laugh. Almost.

"Right, anyway look at this too." Keiko began flipping through the pages again, until she reached one with a sticky note coloured in bright, hot pink. "I love this part of the book the most; where Reo's past is revealed. This is the most heart-breaking chapter I've ever read."

"I like that chapter as well." This was something she wasn't afraid to admit, no matter how blatant people would think. She did spend most of her time editing it, over, and over, and over again.

"I bet you do." Keiko pushed her spectacles up her nose. They stopped before the elevator, waiting for the lift. "Is Reo going to appear in the next book?" She asked.

Keiko wasn't the first, and Aoko was sure she wouldn't be the last to ask this either. She swallowed the sigh she was tempted to let out and simply shrugged. "I'll see. And by the way, don't bother Ozawa about this question, okay?"

"Umm-hmm I know. But just to satisfy my other curiosity, at least tell me since when are you so good at writing romantic tension?"

Aoko widened her eyes. Well, this question was a first. "...What romantic tension?"

"Uh, what do you mean what romantic tension? You wrote the book."

"You know better than I do that I suck at romance."

"Sucked at writing your own. But between Reo and Akira—their build up—it's marvellous. Spectacular. Wonderful." Keiko kissed the cover of the book, her eyes glinted like she was about to execute her plan of world domination.

Aoko laughed. "You're pretty good at synonyms."

"A habit I learnt from you." Keiko grinned before she suddenly turned serious. "So, the real question: Where did you get the inspiration from?"

"Give some credit to my imagination, will you?"

Keiko snickered. "Oh, and not because of your neighbour?"

Aoko smiled, more for the fact she was proud her chest didn't cringe as much compared in the past. "I think you need a career change. You'll be great as an interviewer. No, an interrogator instead. Your probing skills are amazing."

"Well, don't you say. And you're avoiding my question."

"Hmm, this lift is taking so long." Aoko glanced at her phone and saw a reminder message buzzing in. "I have another interview in half an hour."

"Hello? I can totally tell that you're still avoiding my question, but fine, I'll stop the teases and leave them for tonight." Keiko said and fished out the car keys from her bag. "Anyway, don't worry. I'll just have to drive a bit faster-"

"Crap, did I forget to tell you? The broadcasting company is coming to fetch me." Aoko tugged on one of Keiko's arm guilty. "...I made you wait for nothing."

"To be fair, I rather you forget about that than forgetting I'm your friend, now that you're famous." Keiko chuckled, kiddingly patting Aoko's arm.

"You know I'll never." Aoko scoffed. "But anyway, thanks for driving me here for this interview even though it was a last minute request. You're the best."

"Best is me." Keiko smirked and checked her watch. "I guess I can go and buy some stuff to prepare for the party later."

Aoko chortled. "You have my apartment's key, right?"

"Always."

The lift came right on time.

They parted ways at the lobby; Keiko went off while Aoko waited at the entrance for her ride. There was still some time to clear her thoughts for a while before she had to strain her cheeks and talk about things she'd repeated over and over for the whole day.

There was like a fine line between fiction and reality, and Aoko knew better to never put anyone related to her real life into any of her stories, because the most terrible thing that could happen was not knowing the difference between them. But even when she knew, it still happened. Her rolling of eyes and sarcastic comments towards Kaito backfired, because his Are you gonna write about me? ended up becoming a huge slap of fact in her face.

Maybe it wasn't intentional, or maybe it wasn't even related, but whenever she read a sentence with Reo's name, an image of Kaito would pop in her mind.

Even if everyone thought the book was perfect, she felt like it was just a mess; she wasn't sure if her original intention of writing the good in the bad was ever met. All she knew was she wrote to her heart's will; To fill the empty hole within.

But it didn't really work. Until now, pathetically, it never work. The hole was bottomless after all.

An end that doesn't have an end.

.o.

Knowing her friend's and the similar party patterns over the years, Aoko expected a couple of balloons and colourful streamers hanging on her walls, but what she didn't expect when she came home was the surprising mix of yellow and red that suddenly burst into her vision, fading all other colours to a null. She blinked, and blinked a couple of times, before realizing what she saw of those colours were sunflowers and roses.

"Welcome back!" Keiko, Sayaka and Emi chimed in sync.

"I- Wow, thank you." Aoko mumbled, taking the bouquet from Keiko's hand before the trio skipped away for Aoko to enter. She stood by her door for a while, admiring it as long as she could.

In simpler terms, the bouquet was gorgeous. Scented white wrapping paper around roses and sunflowers, it was a combination Aoko never imagined, yet she wondered why she hadn't. She caressed the petals tenderly, smiling as she took a whiff of the freshness. Besides the beauty, it did feel a little different when the flowers were meant for you rather than... a second-hand gift.

Ha.

"These are really beautiful." Aoko said as she entered the living room. She tried not to get distracted by the awesome and great-smelling food on her dining table and focused on her topic. "Where did you buy it?"

"It's not from us though." Emi said whilst preparing the utensils. "We found it outside your door."

Aoko blinked. "Huh?"

Keiko chuckled, wiggling her eyebrows at the others. "Maybe we should have claimed the credit since she looked so happy to receive them, but no, it's not from us."

"These are from us though." Sayaka gestured over the food, grinning.

"Of course I love them too. Inside my tummy especially." Aoko laughed and stared down at the bouquet, half-admiring, half-attempting to guess again. "Maybe it's from Ozawa."

"He's more of a straightforward type than secretly leaving a bouquet outside your door." Keiko scoffed before her face lit up in anticipation. "Could it be your admirer? A fan?"

Aoko shook her head. "They wouldn't know I live here." But just to confirm, she brushed her hand past the petals, trying to find a letter or even a name card. There was none.

"Then who else knows you live here?" Emi asked.

The number would definitely be lesser than the number of her fingers. And inwardly, she began ticking the people she knew it couldn't be off the list, leaving only-

It couldn't be, could it?

"Anyway, let's settle down and dig in! I'm famished and I bet you are too, being outside for the whole day." Keiko grabbed the bouquet and Aoko's bag and set them on the kitchen counter. "We'll play detective games and guess who gave you the flowers later."

Aoko put up a smile and decided to focus her attention on the food and ignore the flowers for now, just so they could forget as well. For the sake of her heart, she rather not guess who the person could be.

After settling around her dining table, Aoko cleared her throat. "Thank you all again, really." She looked over the heartfelt preparation meal and sighed heavenly. "I can never go this far without you guys."

"Aww, is this going to be a touching speech?" Sayaka giggled.

"Of course." Emi winked. "She's the main star, and the star has to say something."

"No, this party isn't about me. This party is for us—Even though I didn't do anything for the preparation." They all laughed and Aoko continued. "I want to celebrate that we're always together no matter what. So here's a toast! To the best of our lives!" Aoko grabbed a glass of yellow liquid on the table (she wasn't sure what the content was) and raised it in the air

"Greater love life!" Sayaka exclaimed.

"Reduce global warming!" Emi chimed.

"All of the above!" Keiko added.

After their glasses clinked together, Aoko chugged down her drink, and she realized it was beer as the liquid stung her throat with every gulp. She continued anyway.

"Instead of nice beer or sake, I guess orange juice can be our thing."

"No thanks."

"So you'd prefer beer and sake?"

"None."

True to this day, Aoko still preferred orange juice over beer. But if this was what she needed to take her mind off all the things she didn't want to think about for now, she'd be glad to drown herself in it.

.o.

Aoko kept the bouquet in the vase and placed it on her bedside table. It fitted well.

The flowers accompanied her to sleep, and for the first time in a long while, she didn't wake up in the middle of the night, wondering if she'd lost a piece of herself somewhere.

Or to someone.

.o.

It was all over the news for the whole damn week.

No, it wasn't about her lovely (and tedious and totally tiring) interviews that were once popularly circulated, or how the media was starting to emphasize that women can write crime and action just as good or better than men writers. It was a pity that none of these things were over the news for the whole damn week, but Aoko knew that was too much to expect anyway.

What caused the uproar on a country scale was the revival of Kaitou Kid.

For Aoko's sake, Ozawa wasn't entirely happy, but the publishing team didn't mind since the sales wasn't affected or different from what the marketing team envisioned. On the surface, Aoko thought she should at least show her displeasure that her hard work over the past year lasted barely a week because the thief had stolen all her limelight away (that was what Ozawa thought she should feel), but deep down, she secretly didn't mind. In fact, though a little stupid, it was indirectly thanks to that that she got to talk and see her father just a bit more than usual.

Finding more time in her schedule than before, Aoko delivered a handmade dinner bento to her father's office for the third time that week, just because she knew he wouldn't care for anything else—not even his stomach and health—besides cracking what Kid was scheming. She went back home afterwards, took a bath and made her own dinner before reliving her remaining hours of the night on her couch, with her laptop opened but neglected beside her (because she was a little lazy to read her emails), while the TV was on and broadcasting the same news again.

Kaitou Kid.

Aoko had lots of conflicting emotion towards the name before, but after so many years had passed, it would be embarrassing if she wasn't numbed towards his name. Not fully yet, but the feeling she had then and now was definitely different. The annoyance for his attention-seeking measures remained the same, but what made it the most different was her relief, that after so many years, he was still alive.

Her father might not have said it, but she knew he felt exactly the same too.

Once she thought about her father, she got reminded of her own promise to check on him and went to get her phone in her room to make the call.

"Have you finished your dinner?" Aoko asked, her phone stuck in between her cheek and shoulder as she slumped back on her sofa seat again.

"Yeah, right before you called."

"Good." Aoko said, her eyes staring blankly at the news reporter's stern face as he was talking about the letter Kaitou Kid sent to the police. "Don't strain yourself. Remember that bad fall you got?"

"You said that about ten times. And you know I'm not working alone."

Aoko nodded, relief at the thought again. "I didn't manage to stay long to greet them properly, but Takao-san and Junpei-san sure hasn't change; they look the same as they were in the old Task Force. Quite a reunion, huh?"

"Looks doesn't matter when age counts. The higher-ups still insist on getting younger people of course. New always beats the old." Her father grumbled, adding an irritated sigh. "Kudo Shinichi and the son of the Superintendent General Hakuba are joining the 'reunion'."

So not only the thief but even the son of the Superintendent General Hakuba had too much free time on their hand, huh. Aoko shook her head. "The son?"

"Hakuba Saguru, that's him."

It took a while for Aoko to process, but once the words registered to what her memories were replaying—the cold, white and quiet hospital corridors—she gasped, back straightened on her couch like a bamboo stick. "Wait wait, dad! Did you say Hakuba Saguru?"

She could imagine his frown when he spoke. "Yeah. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Aoko managed a short laugh. "I-I just find his name familiar."

"That's not surprising when you'd gone to the police academy before; His name always floats around. He's now with the Interpol though."

If only that's the case.

Twisting away from her TV, Aoko began typing his name in the google search on her laptop. News articles and pictures popped out within seconds as she scrolled through her computer, and by the bottom of the page she'd seen almost every angle of Hakuba Saguru's face. Blonde, like what Aoko expected, refined and all-smiles, like what the son of a high-ranking officer would show to the public. But nothing about his demeanour looked like what Aoko imagined Kaito's acquaintance would be, much less a friend. And like what her father said, he was from the Interpol too-

Wait...? Someone from the police, like Shinichi?

What are the chances?

It might be easier to ask than sieve through all those fake gossips and entertainment news. "Just a question… Is Hakuba Saguru married?"

There was a loud cough. "Are you interested in that punk?"

"No!" She exclaimed. "I just- I think I know him. Or rather his wife, sort of."

"He's married, unless the ring on his finger is some kind of Britain fashion statement."

Aoko cleared her throat. "You said Kudo-kun is joining as well?"

"Yeah, even when I have so much trouble on hand now."

"Why? Kudo-kun will be a great help."

"Great. Great at attracting murder, that is." Her father scoffed.

Aoko bit her lips to hold back her laugher. "You won't allow that to happen, right Dad?"

"Of course."

The confident tone made Aoko smile. It was like back in the days, when all she needed to do was to believe in him.

"Anyway, I need to go for a meeting. I'll talk to you later." As usual, her father cut the call before she could say her goodbye.

Endless questions were still ringing in Aoko's head, and what she couldn't get the most was the link between a homicide detective, an agent from Interpol, and their odd interest towards a thief like Kaitou Kid. Maybe there was another point where both ends would meet, something else they had in common that-

A thought suddenly sprang into Aoko's head as she straightened in alarm.

Kuroba Kaito?

It was Shinichi who told Kaito that Hakuba was admitted into the hospital, so the two must be acquaintance before that point already… And Kaito, being the point between these two...

Aoko shook her head vigorously. It was impossible. He couldn't be part of this when he was just a retired, stupid man who treated his stay here as recreational-

No, stop. Stop thinking and relating everything about him already.

Tossing her phone to a side, Aoko plopped her computer on her lap as she began her own digging and research, allowing the sound of the TV to drift into the background of her noisy thoughts.

.o.

A few days later, the flowers in her bedroom wilted.

.o.

It was a blur for seven years old Aoko to know between what was really good and bad, but the seven years old Aoko back then definitely knew her father worked hard as a great police officer; he strived to catch bad guys and save the good guys from harm. Rather than watching the news or read the papers because she wouldn't understand either way, Aoko's mother shared more of the stories about what dad and his colleagues did for the country.

Kaitou Kid, the name she heard almost every single day, more than her own, actually.

She didn't know what the word heist meant back then. She didn't know it was a thing you could go even though her father always talked about it, until when her mother brought her along to one because her father received free entries to an expensive theatrical performance about some Greek Goddess. It was boring, and Aoko wanted to leave the entire time, until when a man in white suddenly swung across the theatre hall with some kind of wire before he landed gracefully on the stage, his cape settling on his back like folded white wings, same as one of the angel in the play, but cooler.

His appearance was the highlight of Aoko's night.

"Who is he?" Aoko asked her mother excitedly.

"Kaitou Kid." Her mother told her as the police began running after Kaitou Kid around the hall, but they only looked like foolish dogs chasing their own tail. Aoko spotted her father amongst them.

"Kaitou Kid?" Aoko asked, her voice shaky. "The bad guy dad wants to catch?"

Knowing that she was afraid, her mother squeezed her tiny hand with a smile. "Yes. He's that thief."

There were so many things in the world one could steal. Money? Chocolates? Puppies? But back then Aoko remembered she didn't ask what Kaitou Kid had stolen that night, or the other nights of his existence. Because only one thing popped in her head, and she thought it was the answer; Kaitou Kid stolen her father.

He was a bad guy, and she drilled that thought into her mind.

"Kaitou Kid! It's him!"

"He's here!"

As her distant, childhood memory faded away, Aoko could hear the cheers around her more distinctively. She blinked a few times, trying to make some sense of her loud surrounding before glancing up at the building in front, where the crowd around her were pointing their fingers at.

Kaitou Kid had arrived right on time as he stood on the edge of the roof and looking down over them.

It didn't take two seconds of contemplation before Aoko decided to visit the museum, where the thief promised to steal the Red Eye of the Moon that night, and here she was, being one of the few in the crowd that wasn't holding their phones in anticipation or carrying a signboard to say how great a thief could be.

Solely hearing his name was one thing and seeing him in person was another. Aoko wasn't prepared for the possible emotions she would feel on site, what's more when the memories of her mother were involved. But when she saw him again; White wings, gloved hands out and magic in the air, she felt nothing—not even that little annoyance she always thought of him. What overwhelmed her instead as she stood there, watching him LIVE rather than the replays of his old heists, was a strong wave of nostalgia, and even as far as a sense of familiarity too.

Familiarity? The strangest thing she could ever feel.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming!" Kaitou Kid said, his cape fluttering along with the wind. He was so white against the black sky that even from here she could see the tiny tip of his shoes over the edge of the roof.

The crowd cheered, and many began to use their phones to record and capture the so-called iconic moment. Memories over pictures, Aoko thought, and she burnt that image of the very pleased Kid smirking into her mind.

"I hope you'll enjoy my official last, grand show I'm going to perform for all of you." He continued.

Aoko widened her eyes.

Last?

It seemed she wasn't delusional or the only one hearing the wrong thing. Everyone around her began muttering among each other, repeating Kid's words like it was their prayers.

"That's right." Kid echoed, clarifying everyone's doubt. "This will be the end of everything."

Aoko slammed her hand over her ears, trying to subdue the increasing loud screams around her.

Who the hell does he think he is?! Coming and going whenever he likes, as if he owned this damn world! Aoko clicked her tongue. This was ridiculous.

She saw him raised his hands and dropped something what seemed like smoke bombs, and just like that, Kid disappeared in a puff. Light beams coming from the helicopters above circled frantically around the roof and even onto the crowd, almost like a crazy disco party.

Public wasn't allowed access into the museum (even when you are the daughter of the Inspector in charge), but the glass panes helped, to show the police's frenzy panic as they were running across all the floors.

On the highest level, Aoko thought she saw a blonde.

All of the sudden, all the floors turned black.

The crowd began squealing in excitement, taking out their phones again to take photos. Aoko didn't get it. All their pictures would just be a blackout museum. Was that so fancy? It was getting intolerable, standing in this humidity and having to hold in her frustrated sighs...

Close to a few minute later, the museum's light turned back on. There wasn't any sign of Kid. And the blonde she thought she saw was gone too.

Shaking her head, Aoko began squeezing herself out of the crowd. Screw his last show. She'd rather watch it on TV than suffer anymore.

The road where she took a cab down was now blocked with barricades by the police, and the only way to get to the main street was to walk the long route around the museum, which she decided to do without much choice. It was quiet and dim, not much going on when the main attraction was in front of the museum. She stuck close to the building, passing the brick wall and a few fire escape doors. The night breeze was getting stronger, and Aoko clutched her bag tightly to her side, enough for comfort-

That comfort didn't last long when a fire escape door—which was just nearly an arm away from her—flung open, and a figure stepped out into the night air in heaves. The door, however, was blocking the view of the person.

Aoko's mind was blank from the shock, but the first thing that hit her was the sudden strong smell of gunpowder, and then once the figure came to her view from behind the door, she saw white.

White hat, white suit and-

Kid. Kaitou Kid.

His gloved finger was hooking on the knot of his red tie like he wanted to tug it off, but he froze once he turned and saw her, his lips growing apart. The door behind him slowly creaked to a close, and the following clack! sound indicated the door was lock from the inside.

Her throat only managed a "Kaitou-!" before he broke into a run, his cape flapping behind his back as he dashed down the streets. Aoko yelled again, to realize no one around here was near to hear it, and decided to take matters into her own hand. Rummaging through her bag, she tried to find her phone while chasing down Kid. He was way too fast, but his white appearance helped to keep her mind focus. As long as she had a goal, she'd achieve it.

He turned into an alley.

Aoko slowed down, hand clutching onto the phone she found as she turned into the alley too. Right at the other side was a dead end—a brick wall blocking whatever from passing through—but Kid was nowhere to be found. She took a few steps forward and glanced around, trying to search for something white, but everything was dark and shadowy.

She shifted her foot, weighing it front and then back again. She wasn't sure if she should take the risk and walk further in. It could be possible that he purposely lured her here, and the thought made her shiver. On the cue, a breeze—or rather a movement of something—brushed against her back.

The next thing that came was a whisper.

"Good evening."

Her heart nearly exploded. Aoko whirled around, and right behind her was Kaitou Kid.

"Y-You!"

"Are you alright, Nakamori-san? Sorry that I made you ran."

"Wait-" She gasped. "How do you know who I am!"

"Given your lovely appearance, it's impossible to not know." Barely visible under the shadow of his hat, he smiled. "It's a pleasure meeting you."

"To hell with that." Aoko hissed and unlocked her phone. Right before she pressed the speed dial to call her father, Kid swung his arm, slapping the phone away from her hand. She yelped, watching her phone somersaulting into the air and further inside the dark alley. There was a loud thud a second later, the sound coming from a few garbage bags that was leaning against the wall.

"How- How dare you!" Aoko exclaimed, panting at the aftermath of her outburst.

"For my interest, I'll have to stop you." Kid stared unapologetically at his deed before looking at Aoko. "Please forgive me."

Aoko glared. "For your interest? Then what about the interest of the Police? Or the public? Or the owner of the gem you've stolen?"

"That, I'll have to admit, is something I don't care at the moment." Kid emphasized by giving a shrug. "But I'm sure there's not much harm done. Furthermore, this is my last heist-"

"It doesn't disregard the fact that you've stolen so many things in the past."

Kid paused. "...You're right. I'm afraid not."

There was something chilly about his voice, and Aoko shivered. Of course, Kid noticed, as he tilted his head, his serious demeanour instantly changed into a curious one.

"Are you scared of me?" He asked.

Aoko refused to admit to him that she might be, just a tiny, little bit. But besides that, what was he expecting her to be? Happy, elated? "Am I supposed to be hugging you and crying about how I'm your number one fan instead?" She snarled.

He shrugged under his heavy suit. "I believe that's what most people would do."

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to say: I'm not like most people?"

Kid smirked. "Indeed, you're not like most people I know."

She could literally feel her face turning hot from the mix of embarrassment and frustration. "I want to punch you."

"And you've perfectly convinced me." He chuckled. Before Aoko could argue, he snapped his finger and a rose popped out in his hand as he tilted it to her face. "For your boldness and bravery, here's a little gift from me."

Aoko scowled. "Are you trying to bribe me?"

Kid twirled with the stalk. "Yes."

"I still can scream-"

In a blink, Kid pressed a gloved hand over her mouth, instantly shutting her up even before she actually considered her own suggestion. He leaned in, but his hat had shadowed his face, and the monocle on his eye was almost opaque from the lack of light around them; nothing gave her the advantage to get a better look at his face. And if that was the case, the lack of distance between them was very unappreciated.

She could bite his hand to move it away, but the abrupt, loud and continuous sirens that followed got her attention more. With the best she could, she tilted her head towards the street and watched tons of police cars and bikes zooming past at the speed of light. No need for a brain cell to know the numbers got to be more than just the two standby cars she saw outside the museum a while ago.

What the hell happened?

She didn't realize she was holding her breath until Kid let out a sigh and dropped his arm, stepping back.

"It seems that I have to go. A pity that I'm unable to stay long."

"No pity for that." Aoko scoffed, wiping her mouth and the prickling sensation that Kid left on her skin. "What did you do to lure them away?"

"I didn't." He glanced at the road. "They just got a bigger fish to catch."

Aoko frowned. "What?"

"You might want to set an alarm for the news tonight-" Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly gasped. "Right! I just remembered your phone is somewhere… there."

The reminder made Aoko fume again. She pushed him away and took a step into the alley, but it was a little too late to realize it was all a distraction of his. Growling, Aoko turned, finding the spot where Kid stood a second ago empty like she expected.

He was gone like a ghost.

As she put her focus on getting her phone back, she sensed something prickly above her right ear. She thought it was a bug, or maybe some parts of her hair got messed up, and she reached a hand out to brush it away. But what she found instead was the stalk of red rose she didn't accept when Kid gave to her a while ago.

.o.

Her phone was in one piece, thankfully (lying right on top of a garbage bag) and she immediately went home after, just to get away from the damn place as fast as possible. The street didn't look safe anymore, and everywhere nearby was filled with faint sirens; it made her heart raced uncomfortably.

The stalk of rose she used for company didn't help to bring that much of a comfort.

Aoko tried calling her father a few times on her way home, but he didn't pick up the phone, not that she expected him to, and by the fifth ring on the fourth call, she knew it was pointless and cut the line as she slotted the key into the door of her apartment.

After she dumped all of her belongings on the coffee table, she slumped onto her sofa and picked up the remote to turn the TV on. The first thing that appeared on the screen was a video of the heist outside the museum, but the camera was shaky. Aoko turned the volume up, but all she heard were screams coming from the crowd.

The screams, though, didn't sound excited of happy. It was made of terror.

Before she tried to squint her eyes to see what the camera was trying to focus, it cut back to the news reporter as he began detailing the incident.

"The gang of armed men, which has been confirmed to be related to the terrorist organization group that was brought down a year ago, has now been arrested. The motive of their failed bomb attack remains unknown as investigation continues."

"What… the hell?" Aoko gaped, her hand trembling as she dropped the remote onto her sofa.

"Currently, the retired Kaitou Kid and the Red Eye of the Moon are nowhere to be found, More updates will be coming up. After the break, we'll have Toshirou Satoshi, an astronomer, with us to talk about The Volley Comet that is predicted to appear in two days' time-"

Aoko couldn't take it anymore. She switched off the television, letting her mind rest from the headache that was about to come.

This was absurd. How the hell did a heist become a terrorist attack? Was this the reason why Hakuba Saguru and Kudo Shinichi were involved? And was Kid part of this? Was Kid part of the terrorist attack?

"What did you do to lure them away?"

"I didn't. They just got a bigger fish to catch."

Something squeezed in her chest, something hot that dripped down to her stomach and mixed with her acidic dread, giving fear a new flavour of its own. Just when she was about to close her eyes and sleep on the couch, to forget everything that ever happened in her life, her phone rang, jolting her up. It was her father.

She picked up by the second ring.

"Sorry." He said, and then there was a muffled pause before he was back to the receiver again. "I'm going to be busy for the next few days, probably even a week. This is the only time I can spare to return a call."

"It's alright." Aoko sighed, the weight of her shoulders slightly lessened a bit. "I'm just glad you're fine after all that." She glanced at her blank TV screen.

"...You know?"

Aoko blinked. Was she supposed to know something? It wasn't the first time something happened to her father during his work, and this tone was suspiciously similar when he was trying to hide that fact.

"Of course I know." She lied. It was the only way to get him to admit it.

"Takao that idiot. Already told him not to tell you." He clicked his tongue. I'm really fine. I was pushed away in time before the gunshot hit me-"

Aoko flung up from her seat. "What?! What did you just say?! You almost got shot?!"

"...I thought you said you knew."

"And if I don't, then you wouldn't tell me? I'm your daughter, for goodness sake."

He sighed. "I'm really fine-"

"Was it Kid?"

"What?"

She felt her throat tightened even just by thinking of her words. "Is Kid… part of that terrorist group?"

"Aoko," he paused. "Kid's the one who knocked me out of the way; he saved me."

The silence was what she needed to let the words sink it.

There was someone speaking to her father in the background, and he made a gruff-policeman voice before he returned to the call. "Ok, I got to go. Things are getting busy now. Goodnight."

He hung up the call before she could say it back.

Tossing her phone aside, she twiddled with the rose she brought back as her feet moved to the balcony. Maybe her sub-consciousness got attracted to the night sky, or the balcony was the only place that made her feel safe, even if her head was beyond confused and messed up. Either way, she just needed her tranquillity right now.

Settling her heavy arms on the railings, Aoko sighed into the night.

"Hey."

The rose almost fell out of her grasp as Aoko yelped, her body jumped in shock. She spun her head to the voice.

There, standing on the once-empty balcony, was Kaito, his arms crossed over the railings while he looked back at Aoko lazily.

"Took you long enough before you noticed me." He said, grinning.

That smile… Is this a hallucination? Aoko rubbed her eyes, but the image remained the same.

She rubbed again.

Kaito was still there.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She spat, "I just..."

"Couldn't believe I'm here?"

Aoko turned away, twirling with the rose in her hand. She'd been so sure she would never see him again, but now that the impossible came true, her ribs began to ache from all the beating her heart was doing. She twirled the rose even harder, trying to suppress her memory from playing their last conversation they had too, until one of the thorns accidentally poked her finger. Clicking her tongue, she watched the skin under her nail turning slightly red.

It was a temporary, good measure to calm her heart down, at least.

"Who gave you that rose?" Kaito spoke, breaking the silence.

She lowered the hand to her side, covering the flower from his view. "Someone you don't know." She muttered coldly.

Kaito snickered, like a bully who just saw the nerd got pranked. "Bet you picked it up from the ground."

Aoko scowled and glared at him sideways. She didn't get it. At one moment he was a flirty bastard, and another moment he was so cold and cruel to her. And now he was back with the teases? What the hell? What the hell?

"Why are you even here?"

"Why not?" He said, tilting his head.

"Coming and going whenever you like… " She paused, finding her own words familiar but not sure why it was.

"Technically I own this building, so I can."

"Right, I almost forgotten you're my landlord." Aoko scoffed. "Didn't you go somewhere south?"

"Yeah." He shrugged broadly (and Aoko thought his shoulders looked weightless and carefree, for some reason).

She sneered. "Why didn't you stay there for good?"

"And why so many questions? Do you not want me to be here?"

"That's not it." Aoko blurted and regretted immediately. She was showing her cards too fast when his expressions was close to a poker-face, saved for the little tug on the corner of his lips.

"I have a few matters I need to do here." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "And… I thought I owe you something."

"What do you owe me?" She asked cautiously. An apology? An apology? Or an apology? That was really all she could think of-

"A compliment; about your curry." His eyes grew a little distant, but his smile remained intact. "It's good. It reminds me of the taste that my mom once cooked."

Her whole body froze, right from head to toe. The apology she thought she wanted was thrown off her balcony right there and then, and she accepted the compliment with broad arms (just that she was too numbed with shock to move). If she had to compliment Kaito back for one thing, it was his skill at surprising her every time;

His presence, words, and everything.

She'd totally forgotten about her dedication page after so long. She wondered if he...

"So, compared to the rose from that Someone I Don't Know, I've got something even better." He put a hand behind his back and moved closer towards her and the railings. She thought he was about to jump over, but he didn't. Instead, he whipped out the hand he hid, and it wasn't just the hand that appeared.

It was a bouquet of fresh, red roses,

She gaped in silence, her grasp of the stalk of rose in her hand tightened.

"For you, as thanks for all the curry you cooked for me." He said, fiddling with the petals in the bouquet while counting to himself incoherently. "Each stalk represents the number of times I- Oi! What are you doing?"

Aoko had climbed on her railings by the time he looked up at her with widened eyes. She wriggled her toes, exposing it over the railings and down the building. It wasn't often to see a Shocked Kaito, and it was pretty refreshing, given that between the two of them, she was often the one with that emotion.

"Doing exactly what you always do." She mocked.

"Are you-!"

She didn't wait for him to finish and jumped.

Time seemed to have stopped still at that moment and began playing in slow motion. Kaito stepped to his left, the spot where Aoko intended to land, and spread out his arms. It was too late for her to change her position, much less stop, and she collided right into his chest and both fell onto the ground.

The impact caused the bouquet to fly out of Kaito's hand, the roses petals scattered over the fallen duo like showers

As two pairs of blue eyes met, faces close and breathing in sync, time started ticking at a normal pace again.

"Fuck," Kaito closed his eyes and wheezed under her, startling Aoko.

Realizing the predicament they were in, she hastily rolled over to her side—her legs untangling from his—and kneeled before him. "Ar-Are you okay?"

"More like are you okay?" He muttered, rubbing his chest and slowly sat up. "Your brain, that is."

Her concern was gone as she slapped the side of his arm in frustration and got up to her feet. "I could have landed perfectly if you didn't intercept my jump!"

"How could I not?" He argued. When he tried to stand, he winced, one hand clutching onto his chest.

"D-Did you break a bone somewhere?" Aoko bit her lips.

"I rather break a bone than dying from the heart attack you nearly gave me." He scowled.

Aoko stuck out her tongue. "Now you know how I feel."

"That, I always do."

What she meant was for the times when he jumped over from his balcony to hers, but the way Kaito's eyes slightly softened told her his answers meant more than it, meant more than what she could imagine-

"Now the flowers are slightly ruined." He muttered, bringing her back to the reality she still thought was a dream. He picked the bouquet from the floor and blew out a breath, blowing a few loose red petals out of the stalks and onto the ground. "A bit damaged, but it fits you for a mad woman."

"I'll rather call myself a determined woman." Aoko said, snatching the bouquet from his hand, just like the time outside the hospital.

It seemed she wasn't the only one who thought of the memory. Kaito chuckled. "Deja Vu, don't you think?"

He might laugh even louder if she told him every day was a Deja Vu to her. She squeezed her grip around the bouquet and looked up at him solemnly. "Are you a florist?"

"Huh-?" Kaito choked on pure exaggeration and burst out laughing. Aoko was tempted to slap his arm again, but she waited for him to finish.

It had been long since she heard it anyway.

"No, I'm not a florist." He finally regained his composure enough to answer.

"Okay," Aoko nodded. Still with the rose she got from Kid in her other hand, she arranged a space within the bouquet, to fit the lone stalk into its new home.

It looked perfect, as if it belonged there all along.

"If you're not a florist… then you must be Kaitou Kid."

His smile faded, and his face creased. It reminded her of the night when she first saw something more to Kuroba Kaito, the night when they shared more things than they ever did. She knew he was conflicted about something, and he gave in to the confliction, refusing to let on anything besides ending the night abruptly by lying the breeze was gone and told her a goodnight instead.

He looked exactly like that now.

"You're Kaitou Kid." She repeated.

"Was."

"...What?"

"I was Kaitou Kid." He said. "Kid's retired now."

Usually after he made some silly remark or did something stupid, she'd comment and guess what possible job he had, and no matter what it was, his reply would come with a laugh and followed by a shake of head, depicting she was wrong; And even if she was wrong, she never seemed to mind. A mystery was only a mystery when it remained unsolved. And he was that mystery. So when the mystery fell apart for the first time ever, all she could really do was to stare at it, eyes wide and mouth gaping open, too dumbfounded to respond.

A thick silence fell and her tongue itched terribly, hoping to break it, but he gladly helped her with that.

"What wrong?" He asked. "Didn't expect your guess to be right?"

"Yes." Aoko admitted, her cheeks red and hot. She felt herself burning, and she wasn't sure why. "I thought i-it's... impossible."

"Of course." Kaito grinned. "Can't believe someone you know turns out to be a criminal?"

She didn't like his snarky tone, not at all. And if he could do it, she thought she could do it better. "In case you've forgotten, I did claim that you're a criminal the first time we met."

His cheeks twitched once he found the memory, and the tense moment in the atmosphere disappeared, just a little bit. "Ha, yes you did." He said.

"What I meant impossible was your age. It doesn't match up to the Kaitou Kid from over a decade ago. Unless-" Aoko widened her eyes. "Don't tell me you're a Vampire?"

Kaito laughed again, and she couldn't help but noticed it was louder this time. "You never fail to impress me with your imagination."

"...Then you're serious?"

He shook his head, his laughter dying but still ringing in the air. "I'm not a vampire, Ahouko."

"I'm not asking about that, Bakaito."

His sudden stern expression made her feel stupid for doubting him. "Of course I'm serious."

"But-"

"The Kaitou Kid that appeared a few hours ago was me." He explained, each words being said slowly for her to digest. "The Kaitou Kid that disappeared years ago was my father."

"It doesn't disregard the fact that you've stolen so many things in the past."

Aoko closed her eyes, wishing the memory to be burnt off her mind. How… cruel had she been?

"The first Kaitou Kid—your father, did he disappear because he..." She mumbled, and then winced at the level of awkwardness in her tone.

His fingers wrapped around the railings, knuckles turning white as he did so, and she understood the extent of how this conversation was a painful thing for him. "Yeah." He answered, even though Aoko hadn't got to ask the question in full.

It was too obvious anyway.

"So which is scarier?" He glanced at her. "Having a criminal or a Vampire just an arm away from you?"

"I ran out of garlic, so…"

Kaito snorted. "And if you have garlic-"

"I'm not scared of you."

He watched her silently before a smirk ruined his plain facade. "Aren't you afraid of criminals? You quitted a job because of it."

"You should know there's more to it than that." Aoko gritted her teeth and took in a deep breath. "Actually, come to think of it, you actually know a lot of things about me."

He obviously sensed her sarcasm. "What exactly do I know about you?"

"About my father—Inspector Nakamori." His silence encouraged her to continue, knowing she hit the jackpot. "Since when did you know about my relationship with him?"

"I know your family name, but I've never considered your possible relationship with Inspector Nakamori. I only knew when I saw him at the hospital and you coming out from his ward." He licked his lips, his head kept shaking in distress. "But if you think that I got close to you to gain some advantage as Kid, I can swear to you that I didn't. I really-"

"You don't have to explain, I understand." She cut him off. This was the first time she ever heard blabber, and she hated the sound of desperation in his tone. It didn't fit him at all. "And this isn't my main point for bringing up about my father."

He looked at her in puzzlement. "Then what is it?"

"You saved him."

His sudden lack of expression hinted as if he knew she knew about it. "I didn't save your father." He muttered. "I only prevented him from getting shot."

"It's the same thing."

"Not for me."

"Whatever you think it is, I want to thank you."

His eyebrows shot up to his forehead. "Are you thanking a criminal now?"

She gritted her teeth. "So what if it is? A thanks apply to everyone in the world, regardless of who you are."

He shook her head. "You're smart yet naive at the same time. How do you pull that off?"

"Then what about you? Kid's supposed to be a criminal, yet you did something good? How do you pull that off?"

Kaito shrugged and leaned his back against the railing, looking absolutely casual, relaxed and almost confident, just like the Kid she saw on the roof and the Kid she saw in the old videos from the past heists. Kaito and Kaitou Kid and the first Kaitou Kid… Her mind was still reeling from everything, but pieces of memories and moments were slowly popping up in her head, connecting those invisible dots she never knew existed until after she knew the truth.

Even if Kaito was Kaitou Kid just once, the traits of Kaitou Kid had always been in him. Like blood.

"...am I?"

Aoko straightened, her face alert but it was a second too late as she missed out whatever Kaito had just said. "Did you say something?"

"I asked what am I?" He paused, and her face must have still looked confused as he elaborated again. "The bad in the good or the good in the bad?"

Who he was, huh.

All she saw was a landlord that stupidly tried to break into his own house, the sort-of-nice man who helped to fix her tap, the guilty friend that tried to visit the person he couldn't face, and the little child that liked her curry because it tasted like his mom's.

Kaitou Kid?

"Maybe those criminals you'd written about didn't want to be the person they had to be."

Aoko shook her head. "I don't see either. All I see is you."

Kaito sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, hiding his chuckles. "As poetic as ever."

"What I said is the truth."

He looked up, one of his eyes looking at her through the gap of his fingers. "And now you know, are you going to turn me in?"

"There's no need for me when Kudo-kun or Hakuba Saguru could have done it."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "They have nothing on me."

She frowned. "Then what do I have?"

"A choice."

"What makes you think that I'll turn you in?"

"For the greater good? If you do, everyone staying in this building doesn't need to pay rents anymore."

"Oh yes, that includes myself too, huh?" Aoko drawled sarcastically. "What a fantastic opportunity."

"Damn right."

Aoko scowled and raised her arm, shaking the bouquet in her hand. She was just this close, so damn close, to slap it across his face if she wasn't worried it'd further destroy the flowers (Why was so always so damn concern over the flowers anyway?).

"You think I'll turn you in just for that?"

"I don't know. But it's still a good guess."

"Why?" Aoko heaved in exasperation. "Why are you admitting this now? This conversation wouldn't happen if you lied and said you're not Kaitou Kid." She sniffed, but she quickly covered it with a short laugh. "Because in the end I'll still believe you."

Something flickered in his eyes, and for a moment Aoko thought he was going to-

"I had my reasons back then and that's why I couldn't tell you anything." His hesitance was telling as he lowered his gaze. "But now that those reasons don't matter anymore, I want to be truthful to you."

"Then why did you ask if I want to turn you in? What's the point of it?"

"...I don't want to put you in a tight spot." He muttered lamely in the end.

"You don't want to put me in a tight spot? You. Don't want to. Put me. IN A TIGHT SPOT?" Aoko wanted to laugh. "So asking me to turn you in will put me in a great spot?"

Kaito didn't answer, which was good because she needed some time before she burst a blood vessel. She felt her breathes slowing down and could hear the breeze in the air rather than the frustrated thumping heartbeat in her ears, and after regaining half of her composure, she glanced at him.

He looked like a lost boy.

Funny thing when he was the one who decided to pop back in her life again and started this conversation, though it clearly didn't seem to be going well for him. Just who exactly was more prepared for this?

Aoko sighed. "At least... tell me the reasons you said had held you back."

Kaito jerked his head up at her. "You want to know?"

She nodded. "I'm not a judge who can clear Kaitou Kid's crime, but at least that can help me to forgive Kuroba Kaito. You can't give me the first two chapters of a book and expect me to conclude the whole story by myself. I need a start, the middle, and an end."

He suddenly laughed, surprising Aoko. She found herself like a fool even though she was being as serious as she could.

In response, her eyes changed from the focused, solemn-like to narrowed, irritation-filled. "What's so funny?" She muttered.

"You can relate anything to writing, huh?"

"Yes, thank you very much. So, what's your decision?" She spat, not afraid to expose her impatience. "Or is this another trade secret you can't reveal?"

"I can tell you. But it'll take a long night."

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

"No," He smiled. "It's just a warning."

His smile this time was genuine, and her heart soared knowing that she was the one that put it there. "Okay," she cleared her throat, hoping to dispel the sudden tightness in her chest. "If you're afraid of the thirst, I have some orange juice and a couple of mugs for you to choose-"

"Wait." Kaito interrupted, stopping her blabbers and attempt to leave his balcony. "Before that, there's still one more thing I haven't tell you."

Aoko quirked an eyebrow, watching him carefully. When she realized he was serious, she pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. "Is it as bizarre as everything you've said?"

"Hmm, maybe."

She sighed. "I'm all prepared. You can tell me now."

And Kaito didn't hesitate.

"I love you, Aoko." He said. "And my biggest regret is telling you goodbye that day."

Aoko blinked.

Then, heart pounding so hard her chest ached, she squeezed her eyes shut. Even up till now, she thought of the possibility that everything was a dream; the thing she was holding wasn't the bouquet and the ground she was standing on wasn't his balcony. She wasn't here, and he wasn't there. And once she opened her eyes, everything would be nothing. Just her ceiling in her dark room.

Her throat turned sour at the thought. Oh God, if this really was a dream, she was pretty sure she might actually cry herself to death-

Something suddenly brushed against her arm and Aoko jolted, her eyes flung open wide. It was Kaito's hand.

"Sorry." He lowered his arm. "But are you okay?"

This was definitely not a dream.

"I'm fine! I just..." Couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak. Couldn't feel her heartbeat for two seconds. And more importantly, she couldn't- couldn't believe this.

She felt her face starting to burn.

Previously bookmarked and left on the shelves, forgotten, the book about their story was finally flipping again. They already passed the start and were somewhere in the middle, still trying to figure things out. But no matter the pace of the flipping or the length of each chapter, the story was unfolding one page at a time, and ultimately, they would reach the ending.

The ending she no longer had to imagine.

"It seems like Nakamori Aoko is unable to respond." Kaito suddenly spoke, snapping Aoko's thoughts. He was talking into his fist, as if he was holding onto an invisible microphone. "The cause of reason is unknown, but the symptom for her sudden silence seems to be related to her face; She is currently blushing-"

Aoko growled and slapped his arm, her face growing even redder thanks to that. "Why are you saying it out loud?!"

He broke into a huge grin. "That's what animal documentaries are for. We speak for the animals who can't."

"Are you calling me an animal?!"

"Your face does look as red as a monkey's butt now."

"Till this day," Aoko breathed, trying to gain inner peace. "It's still a surprise that you never work in a sewer before when you're so full of shit."

Kaito arched an eyebrow, looking amused. "Are you still guessing all these while?"

That was such an obvious answer. "You were Kaitou Kid, then what are you now?"

He shrugged carelessly.

Aoko huffed. "Why don't you just tell me too?"

"It keeps things interesting, though the challenge is always open." Kaito grinned, eyes glinting with something Aoko never seen before. "But with every wrong answer, you'll have to let me kiss you."

She was thankful her face was already red to begin with; This add-on embarrassment wouldn't change that. "And if I guess right on my first try?" She blurted, hoping her voice remained cool.

"No kiss, but of course you can deliberately guess it wrong. That's still fine by me."

Aoko rolled her eyes. She already had an answer in mind after all these time, and thinking back about it, she wondered how she'd missed that one on her list of possible professions when it was a perfect fit all along.

"You're a magician." She said.

Kaito blinked, the grin on his face was gone. "...Nope." He mumbled.

"I don't believe you." Aoko squinted her eyes as she watched Kaito deliberately looking away. "You're a magician."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are." She smirked. "I see that there's no wrongs for your kiss to happen."

Kaito sighed and gave a shrug. "Then I guess I'll just have to steal it then."

"What-?"

As fast as he finished his sentence, he cupped both side of her cheeks, leaned forward, and kissed her right on the lips.

.end.

A/n: omg it's the end. haha.. it's the end. finally *cries*
Thanks for the Memories, more like Thanks for the Flowers.
Anyway, thank you, for enduring my slow update and the freaking long chapter and also reading till the end. I hope you like it!
Reviews are deeply appreciated!