The first thing she realized as she woke up was she was not in bed. Instead she lay on a slab of stone somewhere, and furthermore the "somewhere" appeared to be outside. Or at at least partially outside from the light that illuminated half her body since the other half lay hidden under the shade produced by rubble and ruins.

As she sat up every bone in her body vibrated with aches and pains, although by some miracle her clothing seemed perfectly intact. Even her body didn't appear to have any visible wounds, she hurt. With so much ruin surrounding her, the colors were strikingly vivid, and she half suspected they were the hallucination, after all even the sky seemed to have taken on a perpetual shade of grey, the sun hidden behind a veil of fog.

The silence was enough that she began to wonder if she'd gone deaf, except for the whisper of her skirt against the rubble, there wasn't a single sound for miles. She began to stand, and she jumped as the stones shifted with a noise that reminded her of an avalanche, rather than a few pebbles falling. There were no cars, no people, not even a distant plane or the buzzing of television sets in buildings. Panic flew through her as she ran towards the crumbling entrance.

What happened? What do I remember? Red light and- her mind raced. There'd been a heist, in downtown Tokyo, and KID- no it had been Kaito- or wait... Now she remembered, Kaito was KID.

She bit her lip to force herself away from that problem. Kaito had had given her a gem wrapped in some cloth. He'd told her not to touch it, not to look directly into it, but she'd felt moisture through the cloth and had unwrapped it. And she thought she'd heard a voice...

Where's the stone now? she looked back at where she'd been sitting but there was no stone, no cloth, no sign that she'd ever had it in her hand. She remember vaguely hearing a thought in her head, telling her to make a wish, telling her think of what she could do, and she'd asked what it was...

She'd dropped it and heard it shatter and-

Darkness.

How long had she been out, and to what end that she'd woken up among ruins?

"Hello?" she spoke into the empty air. "Hello?!" Her voice echoed off the broken walls, and endless metal that cut into the sky. No response as she gradually brought herself to her feet and forced her legs forward.

She walked to the entry way and looked out from the broken room, but it was a broken cry that escaped her lips.

Crumbling towers, buildings gone to rubble, Aoko knew the city well enough that she realized she in the same place she'd been when she'd collapsed, but the glass in the buildings was long since shattered- and the streets scattered with rusted cars, and-

"Oh God" she whispered as a hand flew to her mouth. She looked down, hearing something crack and beside her feet lay bleached bones lay scattered in the dust.

Desolation.

She had to get out.

She ran from the room, reaching a broken stairwell that wasn't entirely laid to waste. Twice she nearly fell through a rusted step, but she made it to the ground floor and took off running through the no longer open windows.

Aoko's feet took off running towards what she knew had been home, but she could tell by the simple lack of sound no one was there. Her legs had turned to jello, but she was trapped in some nightmare from which she was unable to wake up. The shock was too strong for her to be able to even find tears to cry.

As she ran she saw stores that she'd shopped in looted and gone now forever. No sign of anything left, no newspapers to tell her what happened, not so much as a bird in the sky. Dead. The whole word completely, and utterly dead.

By the time she got to her house she knew what she'd find, the burnt out husk of what use to be home, a wall or two remaining, but little else. No one had even bothered to clean up- but after seeing the rest of the city? She wondered if there was even anyone to do the job.

It was finally too much.

"No."

Hand tightening on the broken gate, stepped towards what was left of the building. She had reached the burnt wall when she thought she heard a sound.

"Hello?" her voice cracked. For a moment she wondered if it was worth it. Wondered if there was anyone left in this hell if she'd even wish to be found, but the fear that she might be the last person in this wasteland was too much.

"Please!? Someone?" She stepped inside the house, looking around for where she heard the footsteps. "Anyone?! Can you-"

She heard another step behind her, and turned around to be thrown against what use to be the wall of the kitchen. The force knocked the breath completely out of her, and she felt a shudder when there was the touch of the cold metal brush against her cheek.

"Quiet," hissed the sharp voice in her ear. "Do you have a death wish? Are you completely mad?" A man, his voice sharp and biting, almost recognizable although she was too stunned and too terrified to place it. Aoko hadn't realized she'd shut her eyes until then. She forced them open, but the shadow of the wall made it difficult to see anything. There was the flash of silver by her face, and she caught a glimpse of gaunt cheeks and dark blue eyes with no qualms in shooting her dead if he felt she was any sort of threat.

"What the hell are you even doing out here? Your compound shouldn't have let you wander without-"

It hadn't been obvious at first, but now that she was actively listening she wondered that she hadn't noticed before. Aoko's eyes widened and her pulse sped up further as she recognized the voice. Rougher, sharper, more like KID's if KID were crueler man, but she'd know him anywhere.

"Kaito?" her voice shuddered at the sound, and she felt his hand tighten around her wrist. "Kaito please... It's me-"

A whimper escaped her as the gun was pushed back to her forehead and his fingers dug into her shoulder. Her knees almost crumpled from the force of it.

"What kind of goddamn game do you think you're playing here?" He hissed under his breath. "I sure as hell don't know you, and one of our contingent would never be so blatantly stupid to walk around like that in this hell. Give me one reason I shouldn't just shoot-"

"Aoko."

Her name fell from her lips and she was visibly shaking under his hand, "Aoko Nakamori." She let out a soft cry as his hand clenched and she saw his blue eyes flash in anger, "It's me Kaito. Look at me. I don't know what happened but it's me."

How long exactly had she been out? She hurt too much to be dead or dreaming, but that didn't explain how this had occurred seemingly overnight. "You're hurting me," she told him softly.

"What sort of fool do you take me for?" his eyes were bright and his lips tightened in a thin line that took no prisoners. "I don't know who the hell you are, but if you think I'll believe that lie-"

His eyes flickered over her face, her collar, and then drifted down, to linger at the hem of her skirt move back to the top. It was like he was undressing her, his poker face giving nothing away although she felt his hand loose a fraction. Her cheeks redden. Normally she would have said something, do something at the scrutiny his gaze was applying, but she was too taken aback by this man who would hold a gun to a young woman's head without a second thought. Who would shoot first and ask questions later.

"Kaito?"

His eyes flickered back to her face, but his eyes looked blank as he asked sharply, "When did we first meet?"

"Clock tower. I was waiting for my father and you gave me a rose."

"What do you use to frighten me?"

She swallowed, "Fish. You are… were mortally terrified of fish. I still don't know why." She couldn't imagine this man being scared of anything.

He paused and then his eyes flicked to hers a final time.

"How did you find out I was KID?"

She hadn't expect that. It was still such an open wound, even with the horror she had landed in, "That last heist. You were shot and we were locked together in that closet. You gave me that gem, the red one in the three piece set KID was stealing that night, and then you told me crazy things. Some sort of legend, and how your father was killed for it, and how I shouldn't look at it or touch it with my skin and that I had to get out of there. I was angry, but..."

Her cheeks burned at the memory. Her voice shook as she remembered the way he'd brushed her hair aside and how a pain ridden Kaito had murmured apologizes into her ear while she'd tried to keep him from bleeding to death. How she thought, for a moment, dry lips had pressed themselves against her cheek, as he'd drifted in and out of consciousness.

"Kaito what's going on?"

He didn't respond. For a moment she thought she felt the hand on her shoulder shake, but then it tighten and caused her to cry out again.

His gaze showed nothing.

"One last question. When my father died, what did you do?"

She winced at the thought, no matter how long ago it had been. It was not a pleasant memory, "You hadn't seen me for a month after your father's funeral, so I came over and I slapped you and told you it wasn't fair. That you had a mother, and your father paid attention to you and I'd never even had a mother at all and my father never paid attention to me. That you were being selfish and I never wanted to hear about your father again."

She felt her lips trembling, "Kaito please.. isn't this enough. Why that memory? I can tell you about the first time I chased you with a mop or-"

"Stop chattering," he snapped, but his grip loosen and she felt him tuck the gun away. She thought he was going to let her go entirely but reached up to grab her cheek. He pulled firmly and she cried out in pain, "Not a mask-" he muttered before letting go of her shoulder and grabbed her arm instead. He turned so she couldn't see his face as he barked, "Let's go."

Aoko stumbled as he dragged her forward back towards an exist. "Wait! Kaito where are we? What's going on? What happened? The last thing I remember is a flash of red light and-"

"Later." he snapped jerking her arm again. "It's too dangerous here. We'll get back to the vehicle where the other's are waiting and talk when we reach camp."

"But I-"

"I said later alright?!" He turned and his eyes looked nearly black in the light. The tone of his voice said he was unused to being argued with. She tried to keep up, although it ended with her being mostly dragged to a monster of a truck waiting several blocks down the street. Unceremoniously, Kaito lifted, and pushed her into the back where a man dressed in a similar style and armed to the teeth looked towards them in question.

Kaito shook his head before slamming the doors and moving into the driver's seat.

The man said nothing as the truck started up and moved along.

The rest of the city looked little better than what she'd already seen, and they drove in silence for nearly a half hour. Ruin followed them everywhere, although she thought she caught glimpses of people watching from alleys at times. Death, the stench was unbelievable at times, twice she fought from being ill. By the time they started slowing down, the smell had lessened and they were well past the outskirts of the city.

They reached a fence, and a gate opened upon seeing them drive up. Kaito shouted something, and people came forward. The truck came to a halt just inside. The man who had been riding with her barreled out of the vehicle, and several minutes later Aoko clambered down from the back wondering if they'd forgotten her altogether.

Her feet only just touched ground when she heard shouting as another man walked up to Kaito.

He was tall with dark skin and an Osakan dialect. She felt like she recognized him from somewhere- but for the life of her couldn't put her finger on it. She turned to hear better, although it was hardly necessary as he shouted, "You idiot! You're gonna get us all killed!"

She realized the man's eyes were turned on her, and several other people were staring at her as well, "She's obviously some sort of spy or something! What the hell we're you thinking?"

Kaito ignored him as he murmured something to a woman who'd been following behind the Osakan. The woman nodded and ran off into the nearest building before reemerging moment's later with a kit of some kind. Kaito paid her no mind at all, although the Oskan continued to through her unpleasant glances and seemed to be continuing his rant low enough she could no longer hear.

The newcomer walked up to Aoko and said, "Sit."

Before Aoko had a chance to say a word the woman pulled out a needle, removed the wrapping, and jabbed it into her arm. She screamed, but neither Kaito or the Osakan boy turned her way.

"Haibara's doing the tests on her now Hattori," Kaito said wearily. "I would have done them in the vehicle on the way, but we were entirely out. I planned to see to it the moment we crossed the compound." Kaito found it exhausting dealing with a begrudged second in command, and it had been a long time since Hattori had been that dismayed.

"One thing you know is I am not is careless, regardless of who or what she might look like. Hell, if anything that makes me more suspicious. If I thought she was showing any signs of plague, madness, or being a spy I would have shot her myself before she uttered another word. You of all people should know that."

"Who is she anyway?" Hattori watched Aoko with a fierceness that was causing her blood to boil. Kaito scared her, but this Hattori just pissed her off.

"Ouch! What do you think you're doing anyway? If you're-"

"It's an antidote." Kaito said slowly. He'd turned back to her and her eyes flickered back up to his face. "Well a vaccine and antidote in one. The first made was to make certain you weren't infected. Some say it's a variant of influenza, but it kills faster than anything known before. The symptoms that go with it mutate too fast for us to call it anything specific. It played the greatest part in 'what happened' as you have been asking."

She rubbed her arm but her eyes widened.

"The second keeps you from getting it, at least as much as anything works, as well as several other viruses that have reemerged these last few years. You'd already be foaming at the mouth if you had caught one of the bugs that drove you mad."

His eyes held hers as he calmly added, "No vaccine for that yet unfortunately. Haibara's been working at it, but since supplies have gotten more difficult it makes the work slow going. Needless to say, everyone who enters the compound gets the same tests, unless you already have them."

Hattori was still watching her, and hadn't replied to her question yet. Rather, she could feel his eyes trace her body slowly. Her cheeks grew red as a smirk curled on his lips in a near leer, "Oiy Kuroba, she's wearing a schoolgirl outfit." He leaned over her, causing Aoko to tighten her fists, when he reached out and flicked her bow.

She nearly rammed into the woman helping her with her arm as she tried to push away, "Looks like it was your school's too! Where'd you find her? She's like an antique." He chuckled and his eyes flickered back towards the hem.

Kaito grabbed the man's shoulder and pulled him back, "Don't Hattori," he snapped, "She's-"

Hattori.

The name jogged something in her memory. "Nakamori Aoko," she said through gritted teeth as the woman who had plunged the needles into her wrapped up her arm. "My father," she paused not thinking about what might've happened to her father, "My father use to be Inspector Nakamori. And if you're Hattori aren't you Chief Hattori's son?"

Hattori looked pale and he glanced between her and Kaito, "She's dead," he told Kaito bluntly. "And yeah my dad might've been chief back when there was still order, but that's been years now. That said I'm pretty damn sure Aoko Nakamori was blown up into itty bitty pieces- 'least that's what I remember you telling' Kudou." He was looking back at Kaito with his arms crossed tightly.

"Apparently I was mistaken," Kaito's voice remained perfectly smooth.

Heiji looked back to Aoko, "Case you haven't noticed Kuroba, she looks like she's barely hit puberty."

Aoko flew to her feet, her cheeks bright red, "Why you! I'm almost nineteen thank you very much! I'd expect a slur like that from Kaito but how dare you-"

Kaito had grown progressively more tired with the conversation. Every time it seemed like the situation might be working itself out, something new got thrown into the equation.

"I'm twenty-eight," he said. "Did you get that? Twenty-eight. Hattori's the same age as me, and he's right. With that outfit you're obviously still in high school, or I suppose our last week if what you've said is true. Initially I presumed you had to be some sort of planted decoy but frankly this is beyond anything I think even the org could ." The last comment was directed to Hattori, who simply slipped his hands in his pockets and shook his head.

Aoko's mouth slipped open, forming a small "o" as she looked at Kaito, really looked at Kaito for the first time.

She hadn't noticed before, but then the clothes had been odd enough to throw her off and she'd been going into shock without ever taking a closer look at Kaito. Now she could see him more clearly, the fact that his hollow face wasn't just lack of food, but also having grown lean from age. Line's around his eyes, forehead, and the last of the adolescence gone. His body was slim, muscular, skinnier than he'd been in high school- but every inch of him pure muscle. She could see them press through his shirt, and when he flexed his arms.

There was also a faint etching of a five o'clock shadow- funny since she remembered Kaito trying to grow out a mustache once. Three weeks and he'd never had so much as a hint of stubble.

He had also grow into his looks. She might have even called it movie looks, the kind of handsome that had a person's head turn. He'd always been good looking, but now that he'd lost the sense of teen boy, and gained an added sense of danger that framed his face. Perhaps the man before her might resemble KID more, but even KID had always been a gentleman. He'd been clean cut, and she might have even teased him for being posh. The man before her was a mercenary rather than a thief, and there was a hardness in his bearing that said he'd seen things Aoko hoped she might never have to.

"Kuroba I've been through some weird things in the last decade, but I ain't heard of time travelling," Hattori's voice interrupted her thoughts and he circled her like a raptor watching it's prey.

Kaito raised an eyebrow, "And a teenager shrinking into an eight year old makes more sense?"

It stopped the man, "Alright... it's not that far fetched, but even that's a little more rationale than women coming back from the dead."

"I checked," added Kaito. "She's not wearing a mask, and she knows a little too much to be anyone else. Still no idea how she got here looking as though she just stepped out of 2013, but after everything else that's happened I can let that question rest for now." he said shaking his head.

It was obvious Hattori didn't agree, "You goin' soft Kuroba?" Hattori made no qualms that he didn't like her, and the way his eyes followed her made her nervous, "If she gets us all killed 'cause you made a mistake-"

"Hattori she's-"

"Kudou went and got himself killed 'cause he thought-"

"Yeah well I'm not Kudou am I?"

"Sometimes you act a damn lot like him!"

She'd had enough. She was sick and tired of being talked over like a piece of meat. Aoko shoved her way between the two of them throwing her hands up, "Hey idiots! I'm still here." Funny how different it was to take glares when they were harmless, compared to looks that quite literally might get her killed. In a part of her that was going slightly hysterically, she wondered if she was about to be shot, "I can speak for myself you know?"

Hattori ignored her and looked at Kaito, "Kuroba? Get her in line will you?"

Kaito sighed and nodded towards a nearby house, "Come on," he said. "Let's get you settled. It's getting late anyway. We missed dinner but I might have something edible. There's a curfew on the compound."

He threw a last glare at Hattori, "We'll talk more later."

"You know it," the light in Hattori's eyes; however, spoke levels of exactly where he saw the "talk" going.

As she walked into the place a few minutes later, she couldn't help but think it wasn't all that different from home. Definitely a bachelor's pad, the whole place made that abundantly clear, if the mess didn't give it away immediately. He dropped his stuff at the foot of the bed and moved towards the small fridge opening it up, "I have a few bottles of beer, maybe a bottle of water, and if you're hungry I think there's some ramen somewhere."

"Just water," she said softly as she felt her cheeks redden. There was a set of women's lingerie lay at the bottom of his bed, as well as a pair of red underwear near a counter. She forced her eyes away but apparently he'd already seen the same. He reached forward and tossed them in the corner with his laundry.

Kaito raised his eyebrow and she was surprised when he chuckled at them, "I'm a twenty-eight year old male. What do you expect Aoko? That I took some vow of celibacy? There's hardly anything else to provide a distraction in this hell hole."

She hadn't thought it was possible to go redder, "No! Of of course not," she muttered. "I just..."

He tossed her a bottle of water, "The bathroom's in there. I need to take a shower then it's all yours. Listen, you're staying here tonight. I'll get you settled in, but Hattori still doesn't trust you. I'd trust Hattori with my life, but unfortunately in this situation he might see you as a threat to that. He's won't go as far as breaking in here though, unless he knew for sure."

He walked over to a drawer and pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of boxers that he tossed towards Aoko. She nearly dropped the water trying to grab his things, "You can change into those for tonight. We'll get you some clothes tomorrow." He saw her look at them doubtfully as a hint of his old smile stole onto his face, "Did you rather I just conjure you into them?"

She shook her head quickly as he shut the door and she heard the shower turn on.

When she was sure he wasn't coming out again she quickly peeled off her now grimy uniform. Part of her wished she could burn it, and under further inspection she realized it still had blood on it from where Kaito had bled on her.

How? When? Earlier that evening? The day before? Ten years before? It was dried, but not crusty. If that wasn't proof she didn't know what was, even if the entire thing was impossible.

The t-shirt did it. As she slipped on the boxers that were just slightly too big and the t-shirt that far too large for her, she could smell Kaito on the fabric.

Roses, explosives, the warm musty scent that he always carried on him, and over all that a newer scent: Sweat, blood, something bitter and sharp, and mixed with it all, the scent of gunpowder.

Her father smelled like gunpowder, not Kaito, never ever Kaito.

By the time he came out of the shower he found her crying on the edge of his bed. She didn't even notice he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, and a towel around his neck. At least not at first, looking up and seeing a man that only resembled her best friend caused an entirely new wave of tears.

She pulled up her legs and sobbed into them as he stared at her from the doorway.

She was surprised when a few minutes later she heard the soft padding of feet, and warm, damp arms wrap around her. She could feel his warm breath on her neck and she turned to wrap her arms around him as wracking sobs were released onto his bare chest.

Calloused fingers ran along her cheek and patted her arm which only intensified the fit. Kaito never had calloused fingers. Kaito's had always been smooth as silk, finer than a woman's, and while they were still long and light, the tips were worn from handling a gun too often, too frequently without gloves.

When she looked up to meet his eyes, relief flooded through her at the worry reflected in them. His eyes that still hadn't changed in ten years, even if they had grown wiser. His head tilted to watch her expression not unlike the way a cat might.

She managed to catch her breath as he ran a hand along her cheek whispering, "You don't need to cry. Poker face and all that right?" he murmured to her softly.

"Kaito-"

His smile was crooked and two fingers rested under her chin, "It's really you isn't it? I half thought you might be a ghost, or maybe we finally had zombies on our hands along with everything else." His fingers moved to catch her hair, "God... you haven't changed a day."

"I don't understand-" she said through a sob, "Please Kaito I want to know what-"

A finger was pressed firmly across her lips. For a moment she thought he might kiss her, for a moment she saw herself thrown against his bed, and for the first time she realized what he'd stepped out of the shower wearing. She suddenly remembered the lingerie she'd seen earlier, and felt color rush once more to her cheeks. She could feel his eyes drift along her body, and she wonder what he would do if she pushed him back and-

"You are so young. Was I really ever-" he cut himself off as he ran his hands back through her hair with a shake of his head. "Damn."

"Kaito?"

He moved away from the bed and grabbed a book from his book stand, Arsene Lupin in the original French. Somehow that stopped her tears more than anything, the knowledge that that some things would never change.

"Go to bed" he told her as he settled into a chair across from her. "I'll get some rest later. You can sleep there."

"I can't take your-"

"Sleep-" he told her firmly. "You'll need it for tomorrow. I can't sleep anyway."

"But-"

"I'm not listening alright? Go to bed, I'm just as stubborn as I was in high school, more so, we're not talking about this now. We'll talk in the morning. Good night Aoko."

Reluctantly she buried herself under the covers. The bed was surprisingly large, which nearly made up for the state the mattress was in. She tossed slightly as she wrapped her arm around a pillow, "'Night Kaito."

When I wake up this will just have been a dream. It has to be.

She woke to the sound of gunshots, explosions, and the smell of gunpowder.

Opening her eyes she saw a fully dressed Kaito watching her with a wide eyed expression, as he waited for her to move.

"Damn," she groaned as she shut her eyes and hid her head under the pillow.

"No shit," Kaito said softly as she heard his footsteps move across the room.

As the door opened she heard it followed by an almost imperceptible, "Thank God."

It was the better part of a week, before the woman named Haibara finally told her the main part of the story.

She'd been sent back to the clinic for a check in, and it had been the woman she first met that injected her with whatever antidote. This time Aoko realized she was younger, younger than she would have thought for a woman who moved with ease around the laboratory and gave off small commands to the other nurses and scientists in a separate room.

After taking more of Aoko's blood, she'd procured a piece of fruit and sat across the table from her with steely eyes. Her skin was pale, and her hair a faint blondish brown that washed her out further. She watched Aoko carefully before nodding, "He hasn't told you anything has he?"

Aoko worked on the piece of fruit without quite looking at the woman, "I haven't really seen him at all, and I'm not to be alone with Hattori-san apparently."

Haibara nodded, "Yes he's less trusting than I am these days, which is saying something." Her lips curled, "I am willing to take in empirical evidence before condemning someone, and I happened to have seen Inspector Nakamori's daughter years ago. You look just like her. I also think while your circumstances are unusual it is not impossible with everything else that occurred. I understand you were in possession of the gem Pandora when this all first began?"

Aoko blinked, her mind whirling. She remembered Kaito murmuring something about that, going on about Pandora as he wrapped her hand around the bloody red gem. "Is that what it was called?"

"The gem that KID stole during that heist? Yes. A separate organization was looking for it as well, as I understand you dropped and shattered it before they were able to catch you with it. Kaito seems to think you were shot, and when it hit you the stone dropped and shattered, but I haven't seen any evidence of that. It's possible the gem protected you."

"When that occurred there was an explosion, like a nuclear blast really. It managed to decimate many of the organization members in the radius, but I believe one of their primary headquarters were below- we…" she bit her lip. "Shinichi Kudo and a few of us were working on infiltrating it at the same time. We got out, but there was severe damage. Several experiments they were working on all were exposed- including I think two of the primary viruses that did most of the damage. I only just came up with the antidote within the last five years" she said hands in a tight fist.

Aoko looked taken aback, "I heard a voice. Before I dropped it, it asked me if I had a wish but… I didn't…."

Haibara laughed, "I can't imagine you wished for this. I suspect you were shot when you asked, and the gem protected you. I suspect that's why there was no sign of you- it was suppose to grant wishes or immortality. I suspected some substance in the stone, but perhaps it gave off a force field or something else entirely. I don't know, and the gem is gone so it's impossible to study. It would appear you were kept safe and unharmed until it was possible to release you safely. It's good for my study since it means the isotopes have a half-life of about ten years."

It was too unread. Too unbelievable, but there were facts impossible to ignore. Aoko was eighteen and her peers a decade older. The world had fallen into an apocalyptic wasteland since then and some how she'd survived without food or water. The last thing she remembered was a red gem talking to her.

"And this?" she said holding up her hands around her.

"The group of us, including KID and several officers of major law forces began organizing together. When the virus broke out Japan and the rest of the world went mad. War broke out about a year later but it was short lived, and the organization rose as a type of mercenary power behind the broken countries. They were the real power to fight against, but by that point too many fingers in too many pies. The government broke, and I suspect Japan lost over half her population, maybe closer to sixty-five percent. We had been fighting against them for years, and we knew some of the weapons they had constructed but never expected on this scale."

"Oh," Aoko said looking at her in shock. It was completely out of her depths and she had a difficult time keeping up. Kaito had never discussed what he was doing, or what had gone on. Indeed, in her mind it was still only days before she'd discovered he was KID at all, and the man he'd been replaced with was hard and unmoving and had left her terrified of asking questions that had happened years before.

That was if she saw him for more than five minutes.

"Thank you," she told the woman, hands trembling slightly. "I… I'm glad you told me. I still don't understand everything but it does make it somewhat clearer, even if it does seem like an especially bad dream."

"Indeed."

Perhaps she'd get the woman to tell her her story someday.

It had been nearly two months since she arrived. Kaito had seen that Aoko was to be briefed in bits and pieces, although no one seemed able to tell her exactly what had happened and Kaito found himself to be everywhere and no where all at once where she was concerned.

This time Kaito had been gone nearly a week. The excursion had taken them to districts within the city that they hadn't dared broach for months, mostly for supplies, although there was always the chance of finding alcoves of survivors.

Not this trip.

They did find bottled water, areas that hadn't been touched too much apparently due to the lingering plague that had wiped out the district. It hadn't been easy, and the trip home had been worse. Half way back they had come across scouts from the Organization, which had led to a two day stake out before the scouts got back to report their positions.

But they'd had Kaito with him, and Kaito always got the scouts.

They got home after midnight, more than a little drunk from the celebrating once they gotten in sight of the compound. Among the other provisions they'd found an untouched liquor store, and they were all feeling better than they had in ages- if bone weary.

Even as he unloaded the last of the load and headed back from the group, he felt the nagging suspicion he was forgetting something. That instinct he still got when he forgot something on an elaborate trap, or when he still pulled heists now and again from the other antagonistic groups in the area.

He'd apparently had enough alcohol he didn't care.

He stumbled into his "flat" staring blearily at the interior of the room. Stripping down to his boxers he went to collapse onto the bed, and felt amusement at the mass of brown hair he saw taking up one of his pillows. Minori no doubt. They'd been sharing a bed for a while and she'd probably meant to surprise him when he gotten home.

Not tonight. He was too tired to even think about sex, or his bed warmer for that matter. Better then sleeping alone, he supposed. Sliding in next to her, he let his arm wrap about her waist, and was asleep before his head ever hit the pillow.

Aoko woke up to a warm body wrapped around her like some sort of warped octopi. Her legs were laced with another's, and her shirt was all but bunched to her chest. Her stomach lay bare due to a hand that had inched itself across her stomach just brushing the bottom of her breasts. She felt warm breath by her ear, as she stiffened in whoever's arms, fighting to see the face of her unexpected molester.

"Mmm," he murmured and tightened his hold on her. She froze again when lips pressed against the back of her neck and she felt his hand inching over her breast.

She was about to yell when she caught a glimpse of dark messy hair...

"Kaito?" her voice was barely a whisper and it was impossible tell if he was fully awake or not. She gasped slightly when he kissed the intersection between her earlobe and neck, his feet interlocking to pin her to the bed.

It was odd. He hadn't made a move on her since she'd woken up from her apparent comatose state, rather he had worked at distancing himself more and more from her daily routines. To some degree his residence slowly seemed to becoming hers, and there had been more than a handful of nights where he'd never showed up at all, waking up to see him coming in with a smear of lipstick on the corner of his lip, or simply looking like hell rolled over after working the whole night through.

At least he looked rested, and in one piece. For an assignment lasting four days, she had been in a near panic by Friday. The others had said it was normal, but Kazuha-chan was sweet and something told Aoko she'd never be able to tell if she was lying to make her feel better.

Hattori had barely spoken more than two words to her.

And now he was in bed with her, touching more of her than she'd ever let him touch, given both their legs were bare, his hands were against her, and she didn't want to dwell on the kiss.

He's not 18 anymore Aoko... where do you think he was spending those nights? And you saw the underwear- you've already heard the rumours and know he has his pick of woman. I can't look much more than his kid sister, for that matter I'm even acting like it. Calm down... he may be different but he'd never do anything to harm you.

She started to shift away and he loosened his hold. Turning enough to see him she realized he was still completely asleep. By the time she was nearly free his fingers clench slightly "Aoko-" he whispered, the sound of her name stopping her in her tracks.

He sounded like himself, behind the masks, the hardness, instead emotions filled his voice. "Mmm... Aoko..." her name tumbled from his lips again as he sunk into his pillow and his fingers trailed over her hand. She stared at him transfixed at the edge of the bed, so much so she didn't notice that the door had opened.

"You aren't the first he's done that to-" said the woman watching her with a slightly pained expression. The voice caused Aoko to jolt, barely keeping from waking him as she shifted.

The woman waved her off, "Sorry, I didn't know he had company, but I was sent to see if he was awake to give his report. Apparently they'd infiltrated a group while out, and Hattori's eager to hear what happened. We can give him a few more minutes-" she motioned for Aoko to follow her.

Aoko stumbled out of bed and walked across the room with one last look over her shoulder, on the porch excuses poured out of her mouth, "I... it wasn't what it looked like. I'd been staying with him. Hattori doesn't like me much so Kaito thought I should stay with him until everything has been sorted out, and then they had a few emergencies and no time to get me settled and once he left for his mission-"

The woman shook her head with a chuckle, "You're the new girl yeah? I'm Natsu Himura. I just got back this morning. They had me on a mission that's had me a way for the past month." She glanced back inside, "Don't be ashamed, you won't be the first pretty head he's turned with that face of his. I had a thing with him awhile myself, but he's got far too many secrets for my taste. Too much baggage he can't let go of." She sighed, "So don't take it too personally, you aren't the first he's called that, especially once he gets asleep. I know it bothers some woman more than others, but we've all lost people we care about." A bitter smile crossed her face, "The brilliant thing of course is he'll never say her name awake. Hattori's told me a bit about her, but Kuroba won't mention a word about this Aoko. Knowing Kuroba he probably blames himself for whatever happened, even if I doubt it's his fault."

Aoko started to open her mouth, and then stopped, "Oh?" she managed weakly.

"Yeah. Good luck, it takes a lot of it to deal with him." The look that she threw back to the room almost could be taken motherly, it was something Aoko realized she'd seen often among several of the women on the base. The ones who weren't trying to sleep with him.

It wasn't until a moment later that she realized Natsu was still talking, "It was fun while it lasted though so don't let my comments scare you away. Maybe you can finally get through some of those masks of his,"

Natsu looked at the Aoko properly and smiled, "So they said your name was Nakamura?"

"Nakamori-" Aoko said softly. When the woman waited she bit her lip and looked away adding, Aoko Nakamori." Her cheeks were on fire and she couldn't meet Natsu's eyes as she heard the woman's sharp breath.

"It's... a long story. It really wasn't what it looked like though. I swear I've never so much as kissed Kaito and when I woke up this morning he was in bed and-"

Natsu's eyes were wide when Aoko risked looking back at her, "You're in a hell of a lot of trouble girl," she said shaking her head, "Don't get in over your head."

"I won't I-"

The door opened and a bleary eyed Kaito in boxers stared at the two of them on the porch. He turned to Aoko then to Natsu and then back to Aoko has his eyes turned to saucers and face paled slightly.

"You're not Minori."

"No... no I'm not..." Aoko's stomach dropped from under her.

"Shit." His hand ran over his face, "I'm sorry I was so tired last night I didn't..."

"It's fine Kaito," it was all Aoko could do not to stare at him. True, she had been getting use to seeing him partially nude over the past month, but in broad daylight it was difficult not to gawk.

Natsu simply laughed, "Very sporting outfit you have on there Kuroba. We need to talk though, I just got back from the Northern Provence. You need to hear this first hand. Want to grab some pants or did you have something else in mind?"

He looked down and cursed again, "...Women." Half a second later he was wearing a pair of jeans and pulling on a t-shirt that came from God knew where. "Let's go Natsu. Aoko you can get cleaned up while I'm out. I'll see you at breakfast."

Natsu smiled, "Nice to meet you Aoko-chan," she said with a wink. "We'll talk more later."

"Kaito it's silly for me to crash here any longer. Hattori has to trust me by now, and if nothing else Kazuha-chan and I get along really well. He'd never risk both her wrath and yours if anything happened to me. Natsu offered me space too, and lets face it, you need a decent night's rest."

Aoko looked up from the small satchel of things she'd been folding together.

"What's the difference? This has been working so far," he told her with a shrug. "I don't mind if you stay here."

"Yeah because you're never here!" She shook her head firmly. "I'm all but evicting you, and you can't tell me you're getting the rest you need even if I'm not taking up your bed every night." She'd finally moved to a futon, but they'd still had this argument more than once. "I can't do this Kaito-"

He looked at her face, was about to argue, and then snapped closed like a clam, "Fine. Do what you want." He started to turn towards the door, but somehow that made everything worse.

"Don't you dare!" she yelled dropping her bag. "That's just it isn't it? Don't you dare run away again. Since when do you just give in like that?" He didn't turn around but she could see his shoulders tighten, "No fight? No argument? Just like that and you're going to let me leave? What if I said if I'd decided to move in with one of the other men instead? What would you do? Shrug? What if I wanted to go on the next mission? Let me? Kaito this isn't you!" She took several steps towards him.

"It's your business," he said turning around to watch her. "Why the hell should I care?" She saw his eyes flicker with anger though, and she could sense his unease, "If you're still so much of an idiot that you'd even think about going after-"

"I was just making a point," her eyes flashed. "I've had offers Kaito, albite timid ones. But then most people can't figure out where I stand with you. Most presume we're sleeping together and the other half just wonder what I am doing pent up in here if I'm not just your most recent fling."

He looked away.

"You're here because you still barely know anything about what's going on. People will never believe your story completely, and I don't need them thinking you're a spy," he said with a growl. "There are people here other than just Heiji who might-"

She shook her head, "I need to do something more! Kaito you know I can. I use to work with Dad on a heists, and I got Natsu to take me out on a quick scout last week for a few hours so if you'd just-"

"What?" He spun around and she gasped as she was thrown back against the wall, a hand flew next to her as his eyes widened. "She took you out there?" He looked murderous, "Of all the stupid! I'm going to kill her..." It looked like he might for a moment. She half expected him to reach for the gun and go blazing from the room, and she reached out grabbing his wrist.

He swerved staring down at her.

"Aoko you're not ready. You can use a handgun, but we haven't even started you in other combat. You're still a fucking school girl for God's sake." Kaito reached across and pulled on the edge of her bow as she tried to back away.

She knew it was ridiculous to wear but she'd put her school uniform again, only occasionally but when she needed the added comfort. It was the only thing she owned that was truly hers, and it might look silly but it made her feel better. It also helped remind her this wasn't all some terrible dream.

She put a hand on his chest absolutely furious, "And how old were you when this started? You were doing heists and that was freshman year."

He cringed.

"People are going to talk more if you don't let me help. Even Hattori let's Kazuha fight, and it's blatantly obvious that those two might as well be connected at the hip." Like we use to be... Her eyes watched his, surprised at how empty his own gaze was.

"Aoko-" he said slowly, her name rolling off his tongue as he looked skyward. "Aoko."

She felt his fingers tighten on her arm.

"You were dead. Ten years, you were dead, and it was my fault." He laughed bitterly as he told it. "To some degree it was all my fault, although..." he shook his head, "I know it's what they wanted, and it did. It… ruined me. Maybe none of this would have happened, but I was so torn up that I had lost you and it was my fault. God Aoko… I never thought I'd care again. First dad, and then…. that was nothing compared to what I felt when you were gone."

She couldn't quite meet his eyes and he touched his forehead against hers, "I can't even remember how I acted then. I can barely remember what it was like before the blast. The last ten years have been a fucking nightmare, and suddenly you just walk back into my life."

"You could've been a spy and the fact is Hattori's right. I still would have brought you back and risked us all," he added softly, "You're alive. Do you understand?"

It was the first crack in his mask she'd seen since she'd arrived. His eyes held hers for a long moment, and she found herself nodding against her will. She didn't understand, not really, and she was still angry but, "I'm not made of porcelain. I know what I'm doing."

He tugged on the bow of her shirt for a second time and she saw laughter in his eyes, "Do you?" He teased, "I'm not even certain you're old enough to drink personally… Especially in that thing." His eyes glanced at her shirt and he shook his head before easing back slightly.

She readjusted her uniform, finding it impossible to meet his eyes.

"Please Aoko? For my sake? Just help Kazuha around here for now alright? We'll talk some more after I've had more time to properly train you, but just let me be a little selfish right now?"

He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, just like an older brother might, "If you still want to, we'll see about getting your quarters switched, but I mean it Aoko- you're welcome here as long as you like."

She nodded wordlessly, as he turned around and strode back out of the building, not noticing how her fingers pressed against her forehead, and she wished, not for the first time, that she'd had a chance to grow up too.

She was thumbing through one of his Lupin collections when he came in late. She glanced up, knowing he'd been sent out on some mission no one would talk about, and suddenly she understood why.

"Oh," she said as the door shut behind him.

His eyes flickered towards her, the one sharp through the monocle. She wondered how he'd kept the suit so pristine, if it must be another one since there was no remnant of blood left from that horrible night.

"You're up," there was surprise in his voice and he didn't quite remove his hand from the door knob as he looked her way.

"I couldn't sleep."

"I see that," he said eyes on the cover with a signature smirk. She closed it quickly, although he had obviously seen she was more than half way through. Her eyes didn't leave the suit.

She hadn't had the opportunity to really look the last time.

"I still occasionally do heists on the other compound. It unnerves them to see a ghost. By all rights I should have died that night I was shot, but… maybe I got caught up in whatever saved you as well," he said clearing his throat. "Makes the most sense really."

"Do you still enjoy it?" she asked looking over the ensemble.

"Some. Sometimes it allows me to forget all of this happened you know? To be someone else. There might not be the officers, or-" her father. It sat unspoken between them but neither of them spoke it. Instead he reached out and took her hand in his white silk glove to press to his lips. "I can just be myself for a bit."

It was the most like Kaito she'd seen since she arrived. His smirk, his eyes, like KID he still looked ageless and Kaito was right that time stood still for a moment. She gave a slight laugh, "Idiot" she said shaking her head.

"Probably."

He flashed her a grin, and held up a hand. With a flourish of his wrist a rose appeared in his fingers. She met his eyes that were bright, and he held it out to her as she laughed. "Was that something you stole?" She asked with a smile.

"Perhaps. I assure you, the garden it was plucked from didn't deserve it," he said once she took it.

She twirled it in her fingers, the red vivid and bright, almost unreal in a world that seemed to have lost all its colors. The scent was intoxicating, and she realized he must still have a supply somewhere, for all this was the first she'd seen.

She reached up and pulled off his top hat slipping it on her head before he could protest, "Mmm better," she said grinning slightly. His black hair badly in need of a cut and suffering from a terrible case of hat head.

"Indeed. Quite dashing," he said tapping the brim.

"I never saw you before," she said reaching up to brush the chain of the monocle. "May I?"

He nodded before handing her his father's monocle. She flipped it over in her hand, looking at the worn charm. He shifted slightly before her under the scrutiny. "And how does the glider work?"

"Stealing all my secrets?"

"I haven't anyone to tell now," she said simply, regretting it as soon as the words tumbled from her lips. "Kaito I didn't mean-"

He shook his head, "It's fine. I know what you meant." He said as he let his glider unfurl and turned so she could see. She reached out touching it and frowned, "It's heavy!"

Kaito laughed, "Well yes. It's a steel frame. It gave me some trouble when I first started using it, but it's old hat by now. The inside is hollow to give it enough lift, but it still has weight attached."

She looked over it, standing so she could see the attachments and the frame. Looking at the way they spread over the cloth to open and he showed her how he could open and close them and finally detach.

"I've ruined more of them than I care to admit, necessary in an emergency," He said as it folded back into a thin pole and looked little more than a white cape.

"It's amazing. Your father designed it?"

"And I made changes," he pulled off his jacket and tie as she watched him. She would have laughed if anyone had told her seeing KID helped give her a sense of security. He looked so normal, so at ease. "I'm going to get cleaned up, you can look at it if you like. I'll put it away once I finish up."

The door closed behind him and she let her hands run over the silk lapels of the jacket. How odd, but he'd given her permission. She thumbed through the pockets, so many with their hidden crevices. She laughed at her own imagination, the idea of pulling out handfuls of emeralds or sapphires.

She found one gem, but she suspected it was nothing more than a carefully cut piece of glass. Mostly they were filled with handcuffs and keys, lock picks, and a selection of scarves. Other magic tricks she'd seen Kaito use, or items that she couldn't fathom he'd find a reason for.

She did find his card-gun, and set it with his cape so she might get a better look later (and maybe ask Kaito if she could try it).

For a moment she contemplating stopping there, but the card-gun had been on the inside pocket, and she found another smaller pocket towards the top sewn in the lining.

She paused feeling a small piece of paper, or perhaps card stock. It was worn, and she pulled it out recognizing it as a photo.

Flipping it over she bit her lip.

It was Kaito and herself in front of the clock tower. She'd had a matching photo, the two of them with her holding a rose. Not the first time they met, but later when they were in high school- right before KID had saved the clock tower.

"Oh," she said softly thumbing the well worn edges and looking at their faces, Kaito miles away from the man she was now sharing rooms with.

Why keep it all those years? Why bother when he thought-

She heard the water turn off and slipped the photo back in the hidden pocket. She left them back in a pile before reaching for her book and staring at the pages.

When he emerged and saw her back in the book he laughed, "When you finish you should start "Eight Strokes of the Clock" Not quite in order, but I think you'll like that one. More detectives and less heists" he said smiling.

She glanced up smiling back, "Maybe he's grown on me… a bit."

Kaito grinned, "All the better."

The rose stood in a vase by her bed when she awoke the next morning.

What had turned into a scouting routine had become a nearly two week crisis. A group of pilgrims coming in from Kyoto word had said. Why they came this way, Kaito would never understand, but they'd found one girl nearly half dead, and then they'd been attacked before they could get back up.

And envoy had escaped in time to get a message, but between the fact that Kaito had to go then if he wanted to achieve anything and the knowledge they were already screwed. They'd had to take their chances as they came.

They made it home- two men short, a third in the truck but likely to be gone from plague before they reached it- and a handful of the group that had travelled to see them in the first place.

It was late, but then Kaito felt it was always late when they got in from the missions. A handful of people awake, a few others to help get the refugees settled. Another one of their medics to patch up most of the crew, including himself, and then after making sure everyone was alright he headed home.

He was just opening his door when it nearly slammed him in the face, Aoko in mid-pose, barely dressed, as she all but rammed into him. He grabbed her shoulder steadying them both, "Woah, slow down their speed-racer," he teased. After the last two weeks, he deserved to relax a little. "Where are you heading off to in such a-"

"Kaito?!" she said, nearly yelling although Kaito had the impression she wasn't aware of that fact. He fingers tightened around the lapels of his jacket as she looked up in his face, "Are you alright? God! Why didn't you tell me you were home?" She said furiously.

He tried to push her back into the house. It was the last kind of argument he needed in front of anyone else, as he worked to get the doors shut behind them, "Aoko listen-"

"No you listen!" this time she was yelling, "You could've sent someone to tell me! I could've helped! I woke up, and I heard something outside and saw the trucks. Dammit Kaito- I've been worried sick."

He patted her head, and tried to pull away from her grip, "Aoko please-"

"I thought you were dead!" Tears started to roll. "We got the news, and then there was nothing, and people started talking about what happened if you didn't return. Kaito I thought... they were almost certain that you weren't coming back, and I was going to be alone. You were going to be gone-" she buried her face in the front of his coat, and he sighed as he wrapped his arms around her carefully.

"I'm not. I'm too good for that yeah? Barely hurt as a matter of fact. We lost a few others, but I'm fine stupid," he pressed a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't worry about me."

She was so young in so many ways, although it would've taken another earth shattering catastrophe to pull him away from her right then.

"If you had died-"

He chuckled and pulled back enough to make her look at him, "Now you know how I felt." He saw her eyes widen slightly and more tears well up. "Only you know... Ten years rather than two weeks."

"Kaito-" she said trying to gather her breath, and only ending in another sob. He ran his thumb down her cheek, and a handkerchief appeared in his hand as he mopped the worst away. Where he'd gotten a handkerchief when there were barely enough supplies of basic amenities she'd never know, but then it always had been that way with him.

Looking in her eyes he traced her cheek, chin, and then- before he could change his mind, bent down to cut her off with a gentle kiss. She wasn't the first girl he'd stopped crying with a kiss, but then it would figure that if anything she started crying more. He was about to pull back, realizing just how wrong he'd been, realizing that why the hell would Aoko want him when he wasn't even the same boy she knew. And he opened his mouth to apologize-

Arms brought him halfway, and he found her lips on him again, unschooled but fiercer this time. She nearly missed altogether and he chuckled slightly as he brought his hand around to cup her cheek, move her head, bring her lips to him.

He could hear her small little hiccups, taste the faint mint of the toothpaste from when she went to bed, probably his that she'd raided again. There was a hint of something sweet too, candy, when she didn't pull away he decided to be more daring and slid his tongue just slightly out, opening enough as his hand brought down her chin.

He felt her arms tighten around his neck, and with his arms still around her he lifted her slightly off the ground. Her legs tightened around him, and this time it was his turn to groan. He hadn't cut off his relationships entirely when Aoko had returned, at first still too shocked to fully gathered any of it had happened. Minori had been seeing him prior to Aoko's return, but somehow it had lost it's appeal, and seeing Aoko's face the next morning when he'd walked in obviously having spent the night elsewhere-

The guilt had surprised him.

The situation was only worse in that Aoko was still wearing his boxers to bed, and his shirts on top of that. Half a dozen women had provided her clothes, and he'd seen that she had more than enough stock piled, yet she'd stolen a stash of his things to wear to bed. His hand reached down along them, and it was all he could do not to groan when he touched her bare thigh.

She didn't even notice.

He laid her gently on the bed, brushing a kiss against her neckline. She whimpered, writhing under lips, and he ran his fingers along his arms. Ten years of experience, and he liked to think he was good at what he did. Her eyes rolled back as his name slipped off her tongue, his lips found their way back as he slid them open, and his fingers sliding along her wrist, before creeping along to the hem of her shirt to draw lazy patterns across her stomach.

She giggled and her wide, innocent, blue eyes met his.

He cursed.

"Shit-" he pulled his fingers away. "Aoko... I can't do this." his voice cracked as he tried to untangle himself from her. "I'm not the same person you knew. You're barely legal-" he said weakly. "I..." he felt his stomach drop from under him.

"I love you but-"

Shit... he hadn't meant to say that. He'd never meant to say that. The last time he'd ever so much as said the word love had been to his mother and that had been years ago. He'd sworn he'd never run that risk, not after losing Aoko the first time.

He felt her freeze underneath him, "Kaito?" Her voice trembled and he looked away. "Kaito did you just say-"

Except once said he could hardly undo it.

At least he'd gotten rid of blushing years ago, although right then he might as well be wearing a stupid school uniform like the one she was so fond of. He felt like he was back in school and still on a first date.

"Are you surprised? After you died I'd have done anything to go back to that night" he said threading his fingers through her hair. "Half of what kept me going was holding onto the memory of you in front of the tower. Do you really think that could've changed?"

Her eyes dropped, "I thought... I don't know. I'm not-" she laughed. "You use to tell me I looked like a boy, what am I suppose to think? Compared to Miyako, and Natsu and even Satou-san-" she leaned back on the bed, "They actually look like adults, beautiful and tall and I feel like-"

He leaned over her staring down at her, "What are you talking about? Stupid! You are beautiful! You're like an angel. You might not be as jaded as the rest of us, but-" he laughed, "Kudo's girlfriend was the same way, although I think she was wiser than he gave her credit for. It's me. I'm not-"

Her eyes narrowed as she sat up and grabbed his shirt, "I swear to God Kuroba Kaito, if you tell me you're not worthy I'm going to kick your ass. You know I will too. I never got to yell at you for being Kaitou KID, and this will give me just the excuse I need."

"Since when have you needed an excuse?" He said still straddling her on the bed.

"Now that you have a small army out there that'll probably throw me out if I performed bodily harm to you-" she said smiling a little.

He laughed and brushed the hair from her cheeks, "Naw, they'd just cheer you on. Loudly. And that's alright, my reflexes have gotten even better. You'd never catch me."

"Wanna make a bet on that?" She asked eyes playful.

"Father always told me never take money from a lady," he said before letting out a wuff as he found himself on his back and Aoko sitting on top of him. He chuckled, "Cheat."

"I don't see you complaining," she leaned down her hair framing her face. Her legs had his pinned, and her arms were on either side of his chin. He was going to need a cold shower after all this, a very cold shower, he'd probably just jump in the lake for a swim or something. She lifted one hand to the top of his shirt playing with the buttons and he felt his mouth go dry. He saw something flicker behind her eyes, before she hesitantly opened the first button.

"Aoko?" He asked surprised.

"Shut up," she said and she leaned back sitting nearly directly on his lap. She brushed him, and he had to bite down on his tongue to keep from groaning. Her fingers were both on the top of his shirt as she fought her way down.

"We shouldn't-"

"Yeah and you love me like a brother. That excuse would've worked better before you stuck your tongue halfway down my throat," she said her eyes dancing with laughter. "Liar."

"You're a virgin," he said hoarsely as she shifted on his lap. For someone who didn't know what exactly she was doing, she seemed to have a pretty damn good idea what areas would get the most reaction.

She hesitated for a moment before pulling back his shirt. Her fingers traced an old scar near his heart in surprise, gliding across the skin before gliding down. Her eyes didn't pull away as she took in every muscle, every blemish, every cut, scrape, and birthmark on him. He had seen her glancing before, after a shower or before bed. Initially he'd been too inundated to care or remember that perhaps he should show tact, and later he felt it would be odd to change the habits now that she was use to them.

Not that he hadn't been watching her as well, especially the one time when she'd stepped out wearing nothing but a towel that hid oh so very little.

"Well-" she said pulling him back to the real world. "You were too, once upon a time. First time for everything right?" She said and took a deep breath as she placed a very chaste kiss along his collarbone. He saw her glance up for approval, and it was impossible to keep a smile from creeping into his disapproval.

"This isn't how-"

She kissed his collarbone again, and again, and he gasped when he felt her hand slide across the tops of his pants, they drove lower right between her thighs and him. Celibacy definitely sucked.

"Kaito from what people are saying the whole world could end tomorrow," her eyes caught his. "I hardly think I'm likely to wait for a white dress."

He slid out from under her, and her fingers tried to catch his torso, but he forced them away. Instead he slipped his own hands up her chest, and in a deft movement slid her onto her back. Her eyes widened and he shook his head, "We'll at least do it the right way at least," he told her softly. He ran a hand up her leg, causing her to tremble underneath him. He traced her body gently, almost so softly she could forget about the callouses, forget about everything she hadn't been there for."Slowly. I don't want to hurt you if we do this," he said softly.

"Kaito?" she said nervously.

He'd lost track of the women he'd fucked, but nothing had been like this. This time there were no games, no tricks, no position dice or experimentation, even their emotions weren't up in arms and somehow it made a world of difference.

They fit together, the way she wrapped herself around him, the way he pulled her to him, and how he could gently place a soft kiss on her lips.

He could almost pretend, just for a moment, that they weren't trapped somewhere at the end.

Aoko awoke naked, sore, and warm. She found herself tucked against Kaito, who was also strikingly naked, and wrapped around her not all unlike a similar morning over a month ago.

Except she'd been clothed then, and the room hadn't had the lingering scent of sex.

She started to move but it hurt too much, and as the memories from the night before flooded through her she felt blood rush to her cheeks. She shifted slightly and was surprised to see Kaito's eyes flicker open with a lazy smile on his face.

"Morning," he said with a slight slur. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment, closing his eyes, and pulling her even closer. When she winced he chuckle, "Alright?"

"God..." she said nestling her face against his chest. "I feel like I've been drug across Tokyo."

"Sorry?"

"Mmmm..." she looked up at him, and he was nearly glowing. She wondered what he saw as he looked down at her, his eyes brighter and more "Kaitoish" then they had been since she arrived. His fingers played across her arm, and she felt him move his legs to press against hers.

When his lips brushed her cheek she turned over to look up at him.

"No-" she said firmly. "I need a bit more rest first-"

"I had no intentions," he said innocently. "I just thought-"

"More sleep, then we can try more of your tricks. Not all of us are acrobats," she said shutting her eyes and resting her head back against him, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat.

"Yes ma'am" he told her keeping her firmly in his arms. "So does this mean we can give up the extra futon to one of the new refuges we brought in?" He waggled his eyebrows, "I think this is the best arrangement we've had since you moved in."

"...You already crawled in with me once," she told him with a laugh.

"Yeah and I thought I'd dreamed you were sleeping with me. This time I actually get to wake up with you next to me," as his hands finished tracing her arm she could feel them move along her collarbone, breasts, stomach, softly brushing her legs as he pressed his lips against her neck, reassuring himself she was still real.

"I suppose you have a point," she yawned, "But if I wake up this sore every morning..."

"Practice makes perfect," he was beaming as his finger slipped further between her legs and caused her to squirm at the sudden pressure.

"...Kaito!""

"Alright... I'll be good." He kissed her forehead and settled for stroking the inside of her thigh instead. "Let me go find us breakfast while you finish playing sleeping beauty." She groaned as he let go and slipped to the edge of the bed. In the morning light he looked like some silly god out of a fairy tale. He walked across the room without a second thought for his nudity before he pulled on a pair of boxers. She tried to tell herself she shouldn't be staring, even if it was good looking butt, and perfectly shaped, except...

She heard him laugh, "I can cook nude if you want to keep enjoying the view. Though it might just end up being bread and fruit, there is no way I'm heating up anything like this," she saw him shimmy a little and had to hide her head in her pillow as she erupted in a fit of laughter.

"Kaito!"

"I offered." He slowly began to put on his pants.

It was almost enough to make them forget.

And for the moment, it was enough.