Missing

Dead

It felt weird being back.

It was a warm and sunny Friday afternoon. The sun was shining right through the windows, bathing everything in a bright golden shimmer.

Taking of his light, grey jacket, Kaito put it around one chair in the kitchen and walked to the sink to pour himself a glass of water. Though, before he could use a glass, he had to wash it first as no had used the house and its contents for some good eight years, as far as he was concerned. Considering the amount of dust covering everything, his estimation just might be correct anyway.

The water tasted just like he remembered it. Clear and cold and just like home.

Kaito had had many homes over the past eight years, but none was home. It was as they said – home is where your heart is.

Obviously, his heart was right here.

Considering it was the place he grew up in, the place he spent his most important, most forming and defining years of his life, it was no big surprise to feel a sense of belonging. Even though electricity wasn't working anymore and the water had been brown at first and everything was coating in too much grey dust to be considered healthy, it was still home.

It felt good to be back.

Taking the glass, Kaito went up to his back porch. The grass was neatly trimmed and green as if he'd been there until yesterday. Someone must have taken care of his garden. He wondered if maybe it was nice old Takanabe. That old lady had always helped him out when his mother wasn't at home, she'd been there when his father had died. She made the best omu rice and he'd probably have to go over and thank her for not letting his garden rot away in his absence. He'd buy some chocolate and a big bouquet of roses, she always loved his roses, he'd probably even prepare a small magic show for her just to show his appreciation.

She was such a nice lady for doing all that. Smiling warmly, Kaito sipped at his homely water. It felt refreshing, rejuvenating after the long journey it took him to get here.

His last show had been in Okinawa and somehow, he dreaded going back here, so he had taken his bike, the scenic route and had spent two days on the street driving back home. Maybe he shouldn't have delayed it for so long. Being home felt much better than he anticipated.

Turning around, Kaito out the glass down on the kitchen table and walked up to his room. He felt very nostalgic, walking up the same steps he remembered falling down so many times as a kid and now as an adult he was back, walking the very same steps and somehow nothing changed. Time never stopped but some things never moved. Time would tear this house down if no one lived here and no one took care of it but even after eight years of no use, everything sat still the way he remembered it the last time he was here.

Even his room looked just like – wait, there was something lying on his table. Walking up to it, Kaito tentatively picked up a – file? It was heavy and incredibly full with papers, obviously. A string was knotted around the files, keeping them from falling out and apart. It was a red string, like the red string of fate – weird, what kind of thoughts his brain came up with.

Putting it back down and pulling at the string, Kaito easily opened the dusty file and frowned.

'I'm sorry, Kaito.'

He'd recognize her handwriting anywhere, anytime. Even if he spent another 50 years without her, he'd never be able to forget her handwriting, or anything about her really. The way her eyes sparkled when she was passionately ranting about Kaitou Kid or when he flipped her skirt again, the way the corners of her mouth would raise when he'd show her a magic trick, no matter how easy and boring it was – never for her. The way she'd yell at him while hunting him down with her trusted mop or the way she'd ball her fist in her skirt if she was scared or nervous.

There was no way he'd forget any detail of her very being. Ever.

He quickly thumbed through the files and found nothing but paper clippings, papers ripped out of news papers and magazines, all containing articles about Kaitou Kid or his own shows. It was about jewels, security measures, the places he held his heists at, articles about Kid's possible motives for his stealing, articles about the police, the police shortcomings.

Grinning slightly, Kaito could only laugh at their wild theories. Why would Kaitou Kid steal jewels only to bring them back again? Some theorized him to be a dark hero, only doing it for the proprietors to tighten their security. Other assumed he only did it for himself, it was just a performance, a show. They called him a showoff. Some were correctly assuming he was looking for something but no one could tell what exactly it was. Not that he'd ever tell someone. There were of course a lot of other theories but Kaito didn't particularly care about any of them. Some were simply amusing but after a while all of them got boring and he didn't have time for that kind of thing anyway.

So Aoko had been collecting articles about him. Why? True, their parting has not been the best one and he'd destroyed his SIM card and got a new one. He got a new e-mail address and he was on different social media platforms under different names. He'd never tried to look for her, never tried to find her on any social platforms even though sometimes he'd have to physically stop himself from entering her name in the search engine. Sometimes it was so bad, it hurt physically just thinking about her. Thankfully though, most of the time he didn't have time to think about her and how she might be doing.

Sometimes Kaito regretted leaving her behind like that. When she had found out about him, his mistake, really, he didn't see her standing in the bathroom behind him right when he changed into Kid and even his persuasion tactics couldn't take away the sadness out of her eyes. He knew she'd never believe his lies anymore. He wondered if she'd known all along because she was nothing more than sad. Maybe more than sad, devastated may have described her look better, but she hadn't been screaming and raging – she was nothing like the Aoko he'd known nearly all his life.

She been standing there, her eyes blank and empty, a lifeless shell staring back at him. It hurt him and even now when thinking back at it, he wanted to hit himself so bad for just running out and leaving her there. After the heist he hadn't even picked up his bag anymore because he was so scared of finding her there – and the state she might have been in.

He was an asshole, a scaredy-cat, he knew that. The very night he had come back, he'd packed all his belongings and left for Las Vegas where his mother more than happily awaited him.

Kaito should have stayed, he knew so much. There were so many things he regretted but he'd been but 17 years old and he didn't want to end in prison, not that anyone would ever get him there. Not that he wouldn't be able to get out, but if people knew about him, if Nakamori-Keibu knew about him, everyone would be in danger. He wouldn't just be imprisoned but everyone might get killed and he couldn't have that. That had been his thoughts all along and Kaito stuck to them, no matter how much everything hurt.

Sighing, he closed the file again.

"'Sorry', what the hell are you sorry for, Ahoko? If anything it should be me."

Kaito turned around and left his room again.

He was a magician and not a detective, in fact, he hated mysteries and he knew that Aoko knew it, too. Maybe that was her way of telling him to come find her. Maybe that was her way of telling him it was okay. He never understood why she never told her father because whenever he was chasing Kid, he'd never been different from before. No screaming for Kuroba, always just Kid here Kid there. Just the usual Nakamori-Keibu craze.

He wanted to go meet her anyway. Pandora was successfully destroyed and he had no more reason to keep the night job. There was nothing keeping him from her anymore, no more dangers that were lurking in the shadows. He could be himself again, just himself, even if he wasn't sure what was himself anymore. There was so much of the moonlight magician in him that sometimes he couldn't keep them apart anymore. But he missed her. Kaito missed his childhood best friend and even if he was sure that he'd be happy with another woman, he couldn't be without Aoko in his life. He needed her as his friend, if nothing else.

Grabbing his jacket from the chair in the kitchen, Kaito left the house again with a clear path in his mind. Whatever the file meant, he'd ask Aoko in person. Sure, he'd let her scream and rage and hit him first, he'd even suggest it himself, he'd tell her the truth if she demanded it or he'd just forget it if that was what she wanted. If she was already married, he'd wish her a happy life, he'd ask her if they could be friends again but if not, he'd leave again – at least that he was good in.

She might not even live with her father anymore, especially if she was married to someone but her childhood house was his best bet. Besides, if her father didn't kill him first, he'd be able to tell him where Aoko was, how she was and if she'd be willing to meet him.

It felt nostalgic, walking along the path he'd walked so many times in his past and maybe he would have walked slower and enjoyed the view, reminiscing in old times memories but he was curious what the file in his room meant. It had been dusty so it had been placed there some time ago. He'd say at least a few years, but he couldn't be too sure. The last entry had dated back to five years ago. Maybe she had lost interest in him after three years of no contact between them? Maybe she couldn't watch him being Kid anymore? He didn't know but he would find out very soon.

It did scare him a bit, though he'd not call it fear because Kaito was rarely scared of anything, it was more a feeling of premonition like something bad happened or would happen. The file had looked very detailed and it alarmed him that it suddenly stopped at five years ago. He couldn't remember any remarkable heist before the last one in the file or even the one. All of them were basically boring, nothing much happened.

There was a police car parked in front of Nakamori's house when Kaito arrived and it didn't put him at ease at all. Sure, Nakamori was an inspector, there were various reasons why police would be at his house. It sure had nothing to do with Aoko, yes, Aoko was safe and sound with a husband and three children somewhere on vacation.

He walked up the small way to the front door of the house he still remembered so clear and rang the bell.

It wasn't the one he expected to open the door and Kaito froze for a millisecond before he grinned a devilish grin and leaned at the door frame.

"What the hell are you doing here, Hakuba?"

The Brit looked positively surprised seeing him here, no anger in his eyes or voice or posture. So Aoko must be up and well because Hakuba had been into her eight years ago and if he forgave him for what Aoko must have gone through because of him, then Aoko must be in great hands. It put him at ease, momentarily.

"Kuroba-kun" he exclaimed drying. "What brought you here?"

The brit made no move to get out of the way and invite him in and even though Kaito wouldn't have cared before, he wouldn't just push past him now. He was a responsible adult now, maybe Nakamori-Keibu didn't want to see him anyway. Or Aoko for that matter.

Still, he needed to try. He needed to see her anway.

"Is Aoko in?"

He'd easily be able to get her number one way or the other, he'd not been the phantom thief for so long for nothing. Still, it felt better to take the right path once in a while and asking at her door was the rightest way he could imagine right now.

Hakuba paled considerably and went rigid, his eyes hardened and he clenched his teeth. "Not so loud, Kuroba." He turned around, obviously looking for something and when he did or didn't find whatever he was looking for, he pushed Kaito further out, closing the door behind him.

"Has no one told you? I thought the absence of Nakamori-keibu at your heists might have been a big enough sign for you to realize that something was wrong."

It was true, five years ago keibu started to attend his heists less and less, he looked more hazard every time he did appear though. But Kaito pushed it towards age and exhaustion. Also, he'd been active in a lot of countries outside of Japan and he simply didn't think keibu would follow him there on every of his heists. That's why he never thought much about the keibu's absence.

Eyes narrowing, Kaito frowned. "So, then what is the reason?"

Hakuba leaned heavily on the door behind him and looked him in the eyes. "Five years ago, Nakamori-san died."