Part of the Starting Over Series

Summary: [3rd Part of Starting Over Series] Kaito decides it's time for Shinichi to meet Aoko. Akako is something he totally didn't expect.

Notes: Here I am, once again. Hope you didn't have to wait too long!

So, I was thinking. Aoko. And Akako. You know, I don't see Kaito introducing Shinichi to Akako… but I don't see Akako not introducing herself to him, either, so I ended up with the idea that she would be exactly what she was — that creepy, amusing witch that does whatever she wants —, and show up exactly when Kaito less wanted her to!

This comes up after "Staring Over", but still before "We need to talk".

Warnings: slight shonen-ai; creepy witches, flying mops, threats of fishes; fluff, I guess?; oh, language.

Disclaimer: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito and their respective characters are not mine, but Aoyama Gosho's. What is mine, is this story. Do not steal.

The arrival of Kuroba Kaito was felt by everyone in the unsuspecting café tucked away on a little road of Ekoda. Really. It was such a nice afternoon, warm weather, sun shining down on old rain puddles, trees shaking in the spring-hot breeze of the day…

And then it was raining.

Inside the café.

"BAKAITO!"

Under the loud cackle of Kaito's laughter, there was the barest sound of Shinichi's groan. He should know Kaito wouldn't introduce him normally to his friend. Of course not. "I suppose you're Nakamori Aoko-san?" He asked, trying to avoid a possible disaster. With flying mops, Kaito said.

"Huh?" the girl that had been glaring at Kaito with furious eyes turned sharply to stare at him, slight blush raising on her face. She was… Startling familiar, in a twisted way. She was like a more disheveled version of Ran, actually. "You're… Not-Kaito. You must be Shinichi?"

He wasn't surprised; he and Kaito really were slightly alike at first sight. His first reaction had been the same, really. "Yes. Kudo Shinichi, pleased to meet you."

"Please, seat. I was just about to order us something… BaKaito, do make the rain stop, would you!" she snapped glaring quickly over at the still laughing magician by their side. "It's the first sunny day after so many rainy ones, and here you are, troubling us all!"

"Worry not, Aoko! Have you not realized it yet?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes, snapping his fingers to make all the falling… thing disappear. "It's glitter!"

"Oh. So that's why it wasn't wet." She exclaimed with a startled smile. "Thanks, BaKaito."

With a lopsided grin, Kaito pushed Shinichi into the table booth and shrugging his way to his side. "So, Shin-chan, this is Ahoko, the daughter of Nakamori-keibu, and my childhood friend. Aoko, this is Shinichi, who I told you about. You should get along; he also tries to capture KID-sama."

"Really? So you're a normal person! Good, good! BaKaito here is always defending the damned thief! Hakuba-kun is the only person to support me. So, did you ever get close to catching him?" she asked excitedly, supporting herself on the table between them and forgetting all about their food order; Kaito, the troublemaker he was, smirked victoriously and waved a waitress close.

"I guess you could say that. I once almost stopped one of his heists… But I think he got exactly what he wanted, in the end." Shinichi said exasperatedly, a fond glance at the window showing the same clock tower he had almost forgot about after all this time. It wasn't until after Kaito had showed it to him that he had noticed that the same thief he once shot against was KID. "I mostly end up chasing him around and seeing him fly away in the end."

She nodded astutely. "Yes, my father is also thwarted by that thief. He always end in a compromising situation, and following the air! But! I believe he will catch him yet!" at the end she was almost yelling, a fire burning in her eyes Shinichi knew from Ran's love for karate, or Kaito's for well-planned pranks. But, well… He doubted it. Very much.

He didn't say it, however. Kaito was pretty insistent about Aoko being scary with a mop in hands. "Well, I'll keep chasing him, too."

Shinichi felt Kaito's breath against his ear seconds before he heard his chuckle, a hand touching his shoulder. "Yes, you will. You love to think you can catch me, don't you, tantei-kun?"

Shinichi blushed — and just then, a woman's voice coughed forcefully. Kaito was all smiles in a second, turning with a white rose to the newly arrived; sure it was the waitress he had called. "Yes, please, I'm sorry to leave a gracious lady such as you waiting! Would you…"

Upon hearing his friend's falter, Shinichi turned his attention back to the woman, and found himself instantly attracted. And scared. She was… Beautiful. So, so beautiful it wasn't natural. Her eyes were too cold, too red… And that smile was too sharp, reminded him too much of a knife. "Kuroba Kaito-kun. Nakamori Aoko-san. And you should be Kudo Shinichi-kun, yes? I heard about you from my friend. You're just as charming as I expected. Yes. I can see why Kuroba-kun is… fond of you. It makes sense. But I think he got it wrong, didn't he? You don't like the thought about catching, do you? You like the chase. The thrill of a hunt. The adrenalin, the rush of blood…" she drawled with even sharper eyes, staring him down while sliding silently into place besides Aoko. "You're a detective, after all." And then, turning to Aoko with a fluttering, delicate smile, she asked. "How are you, Aoko-san?"

"Akako-chan!" exclaimed Aoko surprised. "I didn't know you were coming. If I had known, I would have ordered something… Wait… I… Did I order anything for any of us…?"

"Don't worry about it, Aoko-san. I did it for us." The new, Akako girl, reassured reclining backward. "And I came because I heard about Kuroba-kun's new friend. I was curious. It's not every day he finds someone he likes enough to introduce to you."

"That's right! BaKaito, you should be more considerate! I'm sorry, Kudo-kun! Akako-chan, this is Kudo Shinichi, Kaito's new friend. Kudo-kun, this is Koizumi Akako-chan. She's our classmate." Aoko blushed slightly, glaring at Kaito with twitching hands. "Would you believe it if I told you that Kaito totally ignored her for half a year? Akako-chan was nothing short of perfect, and he wouldn't even talk to her!"

"Not my fault! She was being creepy!" Kaito defended himself with a childish frown. And a pout, even if Shinichi should not be watching that, and if Kaito would never call it that. Then, in a lower voice, he added just for Shinichi. "A creepy witch."

Before Shinichi could ask anything, food was arriving at their table — and Shinichi had exactly what he wanted to eat that day, even if he hadn't said a thing to anyone, not even Kaito —, and Kaito was smiling and flirting with their server with no drop of shame showing on his face. Shinichi didn't even want to know where Kaito kept his roses, not after the last time he tried to find them and ended up with a face full of smokes and glue (and that because Kaito stopped him, laughing, before he could activate any glitter or color bomb).

"You all from the same school?" he asked to break the silence that had oddly fallen, and it worked. Not a second later, Aoko was talking excitedly about their school, and Kaito was adding things here and there about some of his pranks, with a silently giggling Akako in the background.

It was… weird. Shinichi wasn't used to this kind of company. Sonoko was really loud and obnoxious, but Ran was nice and quiet; but, as Conan, he had had Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko following him everywhere, wanting to know more about deductive work, and being a detective. He missed the kids, really. He met Haibara almost every day, since she still lived at Agasa's, but he hadn't seen the other kids so much since the day he took the antidote. Being with Aoko reminded him a little of them; she was so happy about everything, so honest. She was loud, and laughed and yelled accordingly with her stories, and she was exactly like a child. He understood instantly why Kaito liked her. She was… Light.

Even in her anger, she was so honest — as he saw when Kaito pulled a prank that showed him her panties, or so he said, but was honestly more about guesswork and inducing her into saying it. When angry, she pulled a mop (out of nowhere) and waved it around like a sword, exactly like a kid would threat each other with waving arms. And she yelled, so loud his ears ringed; she was exactly like her father in that instance.

Akako, in the other hand, was so… Strange. She was so mysterious, quiet. Gracious, beautiful. He couldn't not look at her, not watch her. She had this air about her, the way she moved, that was so attractive… But she was also so threatening, he couldn't feel relaxed with her. She had a knowing smirk, and she did the strangest remarks. She would say things about Shinichi's time "away", or Kaito's "hobby", and would look at them like she knew. And then she would turn to Aoko and start talking about something else entirely, and Shinichi wouldn't be sure, and all he could think about was Kaito's remark — creepy witch.

The oddest — strangest — part of the evening, however, was Kaito's jump when he saw an ad on TV about a lake. It was accompanied by Akako's giggle and Aoko's mischievous grin, and Shinichi just didn't know what to think until he heard Kaito mutter about the "damned finny things from hell", and, really; it shouldn't be that cute that Kaito was scared of fishes. It should be stupid, really.

It wasn't. Shinichi actually wanted to smile at Kaito and make him pay attention to something else — anything else.

Shinichi had the strangest friends. Look at some of Kaito's fears: "creepy witches", "flying mops", and "finny things from hell".