Hey all hey! And you thought I forgot, pfft! I've noticed a recent spike in hits and follows cos you guys are such awesome people, that I wanted to continue this. Getting a new laptop with Word (omfg is that how bad my grammar was without it?! ToT) also helps. So YAY! Happy Daylight Savings everyone (it is worldwide…right?) Hope you enjoy!

R&R!

Kaito Kuroba felt unnerved, and it wasn't a pleasurable sensation.

It was about halfway through break when he had the strangest sense of foreboding, and it wasn't for any of his usual stressors: Tantei-kun, Hakuba, any remote sign of the Syndicate. No, this chill down his back was eerily familiar, as if ice cold fingers were running their nails up and down his neck. And there was only one person who gave him that distinct feeling whenever they were near.

He was able to cut it with a bit of humor, though. 'If this is how I make my prankees feel with just my presence...I do a fantastical job!'

Koizumi Akako was seated a desk or two in front of him, maroon hair, swept over one shoulder, not a strand out of place. She was surrounded by the majority of the males in the room fawning over her, the minority being the shybirds, himself, and Hakuba, apparently not as interested as he once was before. Maybe he'd spent more than two minutes with the witch, and that ran him off. Kaito didn't blame him.

Almost as if on cue, Akako turned back to look at him, maroon eyes smoldering with some sort of twisted glee. If it was possible for a girl like her to giggle, then she giggled. Kaito would have called it more a silent hackle. Her eyes darted back and forth, but nothing in the matter of nervousness. It was unchecked excitement, zeal even, at the picture presented before her, which consisted of him, and to his right, Aoko.

Aoko. They say the best of women confuse you the most. Aoko was no exception. As usual, Kaito didn't bother to attention to the equation or some such the teacher was lecturing. Instead, he refocused on a much more interesting subject, which, not that he would or could admit this to anyone, made his belly do Kid-level gymnastics.

Three or so minutes into unknowingly gazing at the small beauty beside him, he was reflecting her name meaning. Blue Child. And, somewhere along the way, his worries seemed to dissipate into the air. 'It matches perfectly with her eyes...two clear deep blue sparking pools of-' Aoko interrupted his poetic thought with a direct eraser hit to the ear. 'What?' She mouthed.

Kaito only shrugged, mouthed some nonsense for good measure, and rummaged in his bag for something. After making a show of pulling out strange objects ranging from confetti to a French Disneyland map, he victoriously pulled a mechanical pencil from the lot, as Arthur would Excalibur from the stone. He turned back to Aoko. His pencil was already being manipulated nimbly in his long fingers. 'Never mind!'

Aoko looked down at the collection of miscellaneous items, then back at her friend, and rolled her eyes. 'Moron.' She returned to her work.

A mental sigh was let out. 'Deep alright, drown myself one of these days...' The magician blew a raspberry. He'd best focus on something that would appear that he was paying attention. Since Hakuba was a desk or two from Aoko, it would have been too awkward to mess with him. So he trained his eyes forward, and resumed his original mental soliloquy on the Akako.

The magician's relationship with the Scarlet Witch was rather odd, to say the least. At least to him. Their initial meeting she'd wanted to kill him, and the next, she was saving his skin by bailing him out? Then again, he had extended the olive branch first, saving her that one time… Had that been just to even the scoreboard, or had she some ulterior motive? They were at some odd conundrum of a relationship, and it was getting odder every day.

Then again, Kaito's life was just one continuing collection of odd moments strung together in the massive complex web of a life.

Sure he knew she liked him, and wanted him to be her boyfriend (he dare not delve into what else he could be seen as). But the infatuation didn't seem to be so much an attraction of physical qualities or personality…more of a… possession sort of thing. Akako's behavior towards Kaito was as if he was a doll, or rather, dog-he liked dogs. So in the hypothetical sense of his being a dog, the girl seemed almost frustration that she wasn't listening to what she said, like he was obligated to, or was even hers in the first place. She'd have better luck taming a rabid Russian Bear Dog, far as he was concerned. He left it at that.

Which is why three periods later, Kaito could feel the hairs on the back of his neck raise stiffly when he got the news through the grapevine of Edoka High School.

"Alight, let me get this straight." Kaito pressed his index and middle fingers to his temple in an attempt to focus. "You're going shopping."

Aoko's first reply to this was a defiant frown and her hands migrating to her hips. "Yes, Kaito, we are. Why do you care, and do we really have to be on the roof for this? It's cold!" Her cheeks we a rosy color now, messy locks spread all over her face like her worn knit scarf.

"With Koizumi," he said slowly, making sure his point was well received over his tone of voice and raised eyebrow. "And of course. We've come to the roof for ALL our important meetings Ahoko, you know this."

"Why this is even on the level of importance as a shortage in Halloween candy, last minute cramming, or dodging teachers between classes is beyond me," Aoko mused, rubbing her holed mittens quickly. "But I'll humor you. Not that it's any of your business, but Akako-chan asked me to go out for a girl's day this weekend. I accepted, seeing as I like her. We'll be meeting up at a designated area, go to various shops, most likely get a bite to eat, and then go home. Was that specific enough for you or do I need to go into the girly details, like sanitary napkin brands—"

Kaito cringed noticeably and gesticulated in a manner for her to stop. "Kami above, spare me."

The much shorter girl just smirked at her male friend's reaction "Then there's nothing else to say. Meeting adjourned?"

By now, Aoko was doing a small dance in efforts to keep warm, something Kaito privately thought as endearing. But Kaito still wasn't satisfied. Call it a childhood friend's worry, or a eighth kaitou sense, but the magician had the weirdest chill go down his back as soon as the witch was mentioned. It was ridiculous really, it's not like she would hurt her or anything…Well that was right. Kaito had seen Akako in action-particularly in her trying to kill him-to know she'd try anything to get what she wanted. It was more a certainty that she wouldn't foolish enough to cross him. Anyone who even touched Aoko…Kaito had been to hell and back, and knew damn well how to make anyone pay dearly. He held no control over his actions if it anything came to that. It's best to let sleeping tigers sleep.

It had intensified when he learned Aoko his… enigma of a relationship was to be left to fend for herself. Intuition told him this wasn't the best idea, for the both of them, even if—no, even though Akako wasn't going to harm Aoko. Especially since he was going to be gone that weekend, doing some reconnaissance work on his next target. He wouldn't a round to make sure—well, he just wouldn't be around. That made things even more troublesome.

Maybe it was the Kid paranoia speaking, but again, there was a foreboding air around now, centered around this proposal of Aoko's spending quality time with a sadistic witch. It was as thick and tangible as the fog surrounding them both on the otherwise empty roof that only expressed an ominous sort of menace. It was most likely just his own strong feelings against Akako, but still. Fearing the worst, Kaito instinctively surveyed his surroundings for any sign of the Syndicate, reanimated doppelganger robot, or perhaps a three foot midget with a vengeance due to Kid's latest prank at the Mouri residence. Trained indigo eyes found nothing of the sort; only a considerably large raven perched on a nearby tree.

"Are you sure you want to go?"

Kaito let the question hang in the air for a while, not even bothering to look at his subject of inquiry. There was also always the question of whether or not there would be anything for Aoko to fend off. It could just be an innocent shopping trip. And by the same logic, it could have just been a tragic magic accident that killed his dad. It could have just been a petty illicit his cousin had spied on in a dark alley. It could have just been an inane moonlight thief dancing across the rooftops that he had no real association to.

But in all those cases, it wasn't. Why should this be any different?

Aoko, either picking up on the well guised worry in his tone, or curious as to his extended amounts of time thinking, hesitantly touched his sleeve, sapphire orbs kind as her voice. "Kaito, Aoko will be fine. Thank you for caring enough to ask…" She ducked her head as her cheeks seemed to get even redder, though the fog was lifting a bit. "But it'll be fun! And don't worry; I'm sure Hakuba-kun can tolerate your antics almost as well as me for a day."

'I'll just have to trust her, then…' As soon as she flashed him that smile, Kaito knew he's lost a losing battle. She was just one of those people that could be perceived as a bit naïve, but Kaito knew she just had a strong sense in believing the best of people. He vaguely wondered if that maxim would hold up if she ever found out…

He jumped down from his perch atop the doorway to tower right over Aoko, and came within inches of her face with a smile of his own: one that he saved exclusively for Aoko. "You just condemned Hakuba to hell for a day then!" He winked. Granted, the enthusiasm was an act, but "You have fun Aoko! I'm going to be assisting Jii in another city endorsing his parlor, but if you need anything, you know you can call. Unless, you know, I'm like eating breakfast; that's sacred time. Then you're on your own."

The petite girl must have been absolutely frigid and running a fever, because, her face was near buried in her scarf up to her eyes. She playfully pushed his shoulder. "Kami forbid I interrupt your nutritious meal of chocolate milk and cookies. You act as if I'm going to end up in the hospital!"

For all he knew… "Well, you're klutzy enough!"

"Shut up! Now, can we PLEASE go in now?" Aoko brushed her hands up her arms, trying to banish the goosebumps that had appeared.

Kaito tsked disapprovingly, wagging finger only thing keeping their noses apart. "Stupid too. How will you cope on your own if you don't even have the sense to bring a coat?" Kaito pulled back; in one fluid motion he rounded Aoko, and, deciding for one the 'normal' way was best, manually took off his own jacket and laid it on her shoulders. "Keep this on, before you catch another cold. I am not going to blow up my microwave making soup again."

"You don't put the can in the microwave to begin with, Bakaito." Aoko mumbled. Pulling it up on her shoulders more, she breathed deeply for some reason and smiled once done."Ano… thank-you, Kaito. Again."

"Well, if you're thankful," With that questionable response, a particular fresh breeze went by, flipping up Aoko's skirt for the world to see. "Mouu, Aoko, gray? How boring! Well, at least it has little stars on it—" He was cut off when the formerly gently shove turned into a violent thwack as he was sent stumbling back, stinging stands of a mop turning his cheek red.

"Hentai!" Aoko snarled, trusty mop materialized like magic in her hands. It could have been worse; last time she legitimately screamed on the rooftop, Kaito had been hit with a three day detention.

"You could have always invested in leggings if you're so cold!" Kaito grumbled, regaining his balance, easily.

"And you could always not be a pervert!" Was the irate reply. "Now get your stupid ass in gear and get to class. I'm not covering for you."

"Aoko-chan is so mean!"

"Only to you."

"What makes me so special?"

"…What makes me so special?"

"I asked you first, but…touché."

"Stalemate," Satisfied, Aoko took Kaito's lack of a witty comeback as a cue to head back into the warmth of the school, and hopefully get to class on time. The messy haired boy quickly had a last examination of the rooftop. The raven cawed at him, as if chastising him to hurry along. He complied, following Aoko down the steps and to the end of the school day, vainly trying to shake the bad premonition clouding his mind.

Hurray for obvious foreshadowing and hints! \U_U/. This is my roadtest for a multi-chap, so I'm just happy I actually had the foresight to even PLAN that. Bear with me.

So...fluff. Too much? I'm always worried about the characterizations. I may have made Kaito too much a worrywart since I was skimming over Broading Days prior to working on this, so he ended up a little clairvoyant, but ya know...Eh we'll just blame it on his getting close to finding Pandora. For in my very rough, unplanned (as always) Mindverse, by the time Kid and Conan know they're cousins, they're close to growing up from being kids. Ha. PUNS.

Third person limited. Gotta love it. Think I'll keep in this point of view, since I usually do third person O. (not even gonna try without spellcheck...). Now, to switch back to Akako, or do a little Aoko POV. I will admit I'm exicted about the latter, since I've never done her before. Thoughts?

I wanted to have Aoko speak in third person, like in the Manga and such. Goes with her personalitiy. But it's so HARD! Does she use I and her name interchangeably, or is in always Aoko? When using Aoko, does the verb change or stay as if it were I? What would my be? Would she use pronouns like her or she? My grammar is already jacked enough as is, so I played it safe. If anyone has a good handle on it, do share!

Ha, so Kaito's going to be off somewhere, so how will our dear Aoko fare on her own? What's Akako plotting? Will Kaito have to step in?

...hell if I know, I'm making this up as I go T-T. But hey, at least this is a sign that I didn't forget about it! I wanna maybe finish this before going back to Three M.

Oh, and to all you amazing people who reviewed and encouraged me: THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! \^.^/. I wanted to reply right when I got it, but my PM system like JUST started working again, so I'll be getting back on al your wonderful comments hopefully today! I know I ramble, but that's just dreamer's odd way of showing she cares. Do review if you can, if only to prod me or send your general approval!

Happy late Halloween, and for my fellow Americans, Happy (Merry? Good Luck) Election Day! Hopefully it'll work out to all our benefits! For none Americans...this Tuesday is now hug your Pet/Stuffed Animal Day! Show them you care!

With that, I'm off to finish my (three? Five?) Projects I procrastinated on! And write a case for debate...yeah I'm screwed.

...damn you fanfiction, you time eating cad ..

XOXO
~Daydreamer1412