Black Canvas

Others find their safe haven in house of kittens or garden of flowers, but she found hers by wrapping her arms around him and jumping off a twenty stories building together. AU

Two weeks after the Black Organization was finally put down, Shinichi, the leader of the Special Task Force, gave Aoko two choices. One, to start her life anew. Two, to continue working with him.

Starting anew sounded easy, but being through so many missions, it was hard for Aoko to imagine anything else but the second option. She never really bothered wondering what she would be doing right now if she chose the first choice, until the moment when she was standing at the ledge of a roof, stuck and not knowing what to do but to listen to the swift footsteps echoing up to the EXIT door. But at least for the second choice, right now, she knew what was going to happen.

She was going to die, either by a bullet in the head or breaking thirty bones after reaching the bottom of the twenty-stories building.

How surreal. Just one different choice could change her life into an entirely different way.

The thundering footsteps set the clock in her head ticking like a time bomb. To jump or not to jump? Would immediate death be better than thirty broken bones? She shifted her feet, but stopped again; Her courage was slipping away like her conscious.

Is this all I can do? Aoko bit her lips, hoping to repress the choke from escaping her throat.

She really was doomed-

All of the sudden, she felt something grabbing her waist and pulling her into a side hug. She half-turned, unable to register the shock as the man glanced over his shoulder and lowered the black cap over his face, covering his entire features.

Aoko's sixth sense told her he wasn't related to the bad guys, but she couldn't confirm if he was a friend or a foe based on that. "Who are you?!" She grabbed his intruding hand, attempting to break his grip around her waist.

He didn't give in to her struggle. "Just trust me."

"I don't trust you!" She spat into his ear.

The sound of footsteps grew louder, but Aoko could almost hear his smirk. "Sorry, but that wasn't a question."

And they jumped.

The last thing Aoko remembered was screaming as the cold wind slapped her face before falling into a pit of darkness.

.o.

She woke up with a massive headache and a bandage on her thigh.

It took her around five minutes to register she wasn't in heaven or hell but in one of Shinichi's safe house located in London. Besides the Sherlock Holmes themed furniture, Shiho, one of Shinichi's acquaintances whom Aoko met a couple of times, came into the room at the right moment to explain what was going on.

"The thumb drive is secured and the mission is a success." Shiho passed her a sealed envelope while typing on her phone's keyboard with another hand. "Here's your new flight that Kudo told me to re-arrange for you. You'll still have another day of rest before you depart."

"Thank you." Aoko blankly accepted the envelope, though her focus was on the first part of what Shiho had said. Her mind was still heavy and hazy, and parts of her memory were jumbled up. The mission was a... success? Yes, she'd transferred the data into the thumb drive, and even kicked a few asses, but how did she escape from the-

"That guy-!" Aoko broke the silence with her abrupt shout. She was too excited to continue to take note of Shiho's disgruntled gaze. "Do you know the man who brought me in?"

"Yes."

"Who is he?

"Kuroba Kaito."

The name wasn't enough to fill in the blanks in Aoko's head. "One of Shinichi's contacts?"

"Yes." Shiho answered, all the while without looking up from her phone. "Kudo called him in at the last minute, thinking that you might need a little help."

Aoko had lots of questions to ask about this Kuroba Kaito, but seeing how Shiho's brow ominously furrowed at a text message that just lit up on her phone screen, she didn't dare to blabber on. But after gathering some courage, she decided to ask one last question before getting the thought about him out of her head.

"Is he still around?"

"He's already on his flight back to Japan."

The answer instantly dampened her mood. "I see." She slumped in her posture. "Just thought I could thank him."

"He's only doing his job," Shiho glanced up with a slight smirk, which Aoko wasn't sure what to interpret it as. "Besides, judging from Kudo's recent arrangements, I think you'll have plenty of chances to reconsider on your proposition to thank him or not."

.o.

One thing Aoko knew about Shiho was that the tall, solemn and intimidating woman would never lie. Her curtness, which she was popularly known for, came about because the truth always hurt.

And even though some of her crude remarks were funny to hear, Aoko wished Shiho was wrong this time.

While Shiho was driving Aoko to the airport, she voluntarily started talking about Kuroba Kaito (much to Aoko's surprise). She said his unique expertise were what caught Shinichi's eyes, and he was one of the people who helped to bring the Black Organization down too (much to Aoko's surprise, again). He originally cut off ties after the Black Organization was turned to dust, but Shinichi's months of persuading finally got him to join the Special Task Force as a freelancer.

And also, he was a dick.

(It wasn't like she liked Kuroba Kaito or anything. He was, nonetheless, still her saviour, and she would hope to view him in a good light)

After Aoko returned to Japan and reported back at the headquarters, she went around asking other people (those who worked with Kuroba Kaito before) for a couple more information about him as well.

So far, she was told he was an ex-thief, had shapeshifting abilities and connections with witches. He'd singlehandedly stolen three-billion dollars from the world's most heavily-secured bank in Unites States to feed the starving children in Africa. He'd singlehandedly stolen the Queen of England's tiara collection for all his ten girlfriends and three fiancées to share. The reason why he was allowed to join the Special Task Force was because he was Shinichi's cousin. The reason why he was allowed in Japan was because he was Saguru's husband. The reason why he was not assassinated was because he was Heiji's father-in-law.

And also, he was a dick.

She finally met the man in question on the night when Shinichi called her back the headquarters to be briefed for a new mission. She reached in a good half an hour. The newbies that Shinichi told her she would be leading reached a couple of minutes later. Kuroba Kaito reached when the meeting ended.

He wasn't exactly what Aoko thought he would be. She imagined him to be a bit more taller, or muscular, or meaner-looking; just anything besides his sloppy, bored looks-

"Am I early?" He stifled a yawn.

Of all the things she heard, it was safe to confirm that he was indeed a dick.

Aoko took in a deep, silent breath to maintain her composure. Although his lateness was setting a bad example, she was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe there was a traffic jam (it was currently three in the morning, but yeah, benefit of the doubt), or there was a tiny tornado near where he lived (she thought of that because of how messy his hair was), or perhaps he was preparing his special weapons and tools that were needed for the mission (although he came empty handed and wore clothes that showed no pockets, but yeah, benefit of the doubt, again).

"I knew you'll be late so I've prepared this in advance." Shinichi dumped a mp3 player and a tangled pair of in-ear headphones onto Kaito's hand. "You have enough time to listen it through once before you reach the destination."

Kaito sighed. "Do I really need to hear your ugly voice?"

Shinichi smiled, and from the corner of Aoko's eyes, she could see the two newbies shivered. "Lucky for you, you're the only person in this world who got the chance to hear it in high-resolution."

There was a tip off that two criminal gangs were going to make a drug deal by Tokyo's bay, and they were tasked to check if it was true, and to disrupt their transaction if it did exist. It was supposed to be a simple mission, and a good chance to spice things up for the two new recruits and let them understand how missions worked, but they messed up their chance of ambush because it wasn't just two but three gangs involved in the transaction. There were more bullets than calculated, lesser places to hide than expected, but Shinichi and the backup team finally arrived and took charge before more blood were shed.

Although Aoko grazed her left arm (and the only visible wound she could see on Kaito was the cut on his right cheek), it was overall a success. All members of the three gangs were captured, and more importantly, the two newbies miraculously only received bloodless injuries. If anything happened to them...

"Your smoke bombs almost jeopardise our mission." Aoko spat, her voice echoing across the empty corridor outside the headquarters' infirmary, where they were waiting for the two recruits to finish their check-ups before getting theirs done (Kaito actually intended to skip the check-up and go home, until the nurse informed him with a menacing glare that if she didn't find him outside waiting for his turn, she'd taser him right there and then).

"Jeopardise? How so?"

"How so?" Aoko stared at him incredulously, unable to believe he had the cheeks to ask. "Because we weren't prepared for any incoming smoke bombs, that's how."

"You do know it's meant as a cover, right?" Kaito drawled and scratched his collar. "Not trying to claim credit, but if it wasn't for the smoke bombs, they would've opened fire."

Aoko did have to give him credit for that, but- "You should've at least warned us; The newbies panicked."

"It was an impromptu decision."

"Which you failed to discuss beforehand." She hissed. His lack of seriousness wasn't helping, and it was just pushing Aoko towards the end of her patience.

"The decision wouldn't be called impromptu if we discussed it in the first place."

Her blood boiled faster than any form of liquid in the world. "If you're not going to talk about your back-up plans or tell us what you're up to, you should just stick to the original strategy. Because if your little idea goes wrong, you could have gotten us killed."

"Keyword: Could have." He produced a smirk that made Aoko's fists twitch in response. "But we're still alive." He unnecessarily added.

Before Aoko nearly burst her lungs, a faint voice from the other end of the corridor spoke.

"It's good to see you two chatting so much even after work."

Aoko's eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head. She turned and watched Shinichi, who was the one that voiced out that nonsensical observation, walking towards them from the other end of the corridor.

"We're not chatting." Aoko muttered under her breath. "We're peer-evaluating."

Kaito leaned back and looked exaggeratedly shock. "All along I thought you were trying to hit on me."

Her fingers were bent, all ready to wrap it around Kaito's neck-

"Although it was a last minute decision to put you two together for this mission, it's still wrong on my part to not set up a proper introduction. But if it's not too late for one now..." Shinichi glanced between the two, almost seeming like he was waiting for an approval. And though he received none, he began on his cue. "Kuroba had been working solo since a long time ago. And perhaps that's why he's thoroughly and tragically lacking the basic, common sense of dealing and interacting with people-"

"Thanks a lot for putting it so nicely-"

"-As for Nakamori, she's more comfortable when she works with a structured plan," Shinichi exhaled a sigh. "But although it's discomforting, there are times when plans may go wrong, and that's when we need people like Kuroba who can improvise."

Was he listening to our conversation the entire time? Aoko mused, while keeping silent on her side.

"The only constant thing is change." Shinichi continued, and placed a hand on their shoulders (though Kaito shrugged it off almost a millisecond later). "And instead of running away, you should learn on how to accept it."

"Bravo." Kaito began clapping after a short silence fell between the trio. "Inspiring speech. Totally motivated now."

Being a fast-learner, Aoko knew that ignoring would be the best option here. She turned away from Kaito's sarcastic seal-clapping scene and dared herself to meet Shinichi's gaze. "But what if it's hard to change? Wouldn't it be better if we just stick to our own style?"

"If that's the case..." Shinichi gave a smile, which made Aoko feel more unsettled than comforted. "Maybe we can try working on it."

.o.

One thing Aoko knew about Shinichi was that the smart, poise and charming man would always take his words earnestly. His resolution, which many people looked up to him for, came from his past regrets and experiences during his teenage years.

And even though it was honourable for a man to keep his promises, Aoko wished Shinichi wasn't so serious this time.

Her next mission after the smoke bomb incident was in Hong Kong; to foil another criminal organization and its child-slavery deeds. And right after Shinichi announced the assigned team members would be Shiho, Heiji, Kaito and herself, he mentioned how he couldn't imagine them working together in his entire life, though he thought it would be interesting to test it out (If Aoko didn't understand that Shinichi was a man who valued people's life as much as his, she might have thought he was sending them to their death).

The job ended two weeks earlier, because they were all spiteful in wanting to prove Shinichi's ass wrong.

By the third consecutive time being grouped in a same four-man team, Aoko realized Shinichi wasn't kidding when he said he wanted them to adapt to change. But even if Kaito noticed, he didn't seem to care. And she tried not to let it show too.

Six months later, she noted the high frequency of working in a group of threes, including Kaito in it.

Three months after, every four out of five missions she had was being paired only with Kaito.

(Although change was supposed to be constant, Kaito was ironically the only constant one during the changes)

This time, they were assigned to an undercover mission to Maldives (Aoko fell in love with the place the moment their flight touched down). It was hard to focus on the original intent of their arrival when the sea and sky was too beautiful beyond anything she could ever dream of-

"Please enjoy your stay."

Aoko blinked. Wait, we've reached our room?

"Thank you," Kaito sifted through his wallet and pulled out some notes. "Here's your tip."

The bellboy bowed with gratitude before leaving the two of them in the enormous hotel room- no. A VILLA.

"I thought we're at the hotel lobby or something, but this is our... room?" Aoko let out a hoarse shriek. Right next to her was a door less entrance and an attached wooden walkway that leads to the ocean, and the floor was tastefully decorated with expensive hardwood flooring-

"The best resort in Maldives." He winked before grabbing his bag pack from the floor and skipping towards the... Aoko had no idea where he was going. The kitchen? The private pool? The sauna room? All they really needed was a bed to sleep (Not that she minded the fantastic facilities available, but...)

Aoko grabbed her bag and quickened her pace to catch up with him. "How much is this for a night?

"A few thousand dollars," Kaito paused. "I think."

She felt her head throbbed. They had calculated the average time spent for this mission would be at least a week! "I'm not going to pay a single cent if Shinichi doesn't approve the reimbursement." She yelled, while Kaito was testing the bounciness for all the six expensive-looking couches in the living room.

This was absurd-

"Oh, don't worry." Kaito grinned, and relaxed when he found his comfortable position. "I've already paid the full amount with his credit card."

.o.

Since Shinichi looked like his usual self when Aoko was reporting the details of the mission after her flight back to Japan, she guessed his credit card bills hadn't arrived.

"How was Kaito during the trip?" He asked, right after commending the mission a success and that both of them did a great job (although Kaito wasn't there to hear since he'd left for home from the airport).

She stiffened in her seat opposite him. "What about him?" She innocently asked while placing an arm on his desk. She hoped he was referring to something else and not anything about the resort at Maldives, or the deluxe breakfast-in-bed set he'd ordered and-

He watched her for a moment, perhaps sensing her tension. "How are you two getting along?" He clarified.

"Oh," Aoko's face fell lax, unsure of how she should react. "He's fine. Still a dick, I guess." Which you'll definitely agree to once you see your bills.

"I assume it's better now?"

Now she was confused. "...What?"

"Remember a year ago?" Shinichi leaned against his leather chair, the squeaks interrupting the thoughts that she was trying to connect in her brain "Your first mission with him." He prompted her memory again.

"Oh, the one with his smoke bombs?"

"Yeah." Shinichi smiled. "Has things changed ever since?"

"He still uses it and I suspect pink is his favourite colour." Was what Aoko almost wanted to say. She bit her tongue, just in time to stop her silly mistake. It took her a while to register Shinichi's meaning behind his words, and she cleared her throat, just to prolong the time she needed to think.

"I would say better, for me at least."

His raised eyebrows were an indication for her to continue.

"I've grown more flexible." Aoko rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "And I've came to realize improvising isn't exactly a bad thing. If you've worked long enough with your partners, you'll know what exactly they are thinking. And once you've reached that point, there's not really a need for a meeting plan or over-night discussions. A simple nod is all that's needed."

"I see."

The gentle understanding of Shinichi's voice might make all the girls in the Special Task Force swoon, but Aoko was beyond embarrassed to care for such thing. She covered half of her face with a hand and pretended to cough. "It's not a big change or anything-"

"I've asked him about his changes too, a day before your flight to Maldives." Shinichi spoke before Aoko could continue her blabbers.

She looked at him, waiting.

"He said you remind him of Tora, his previous cat that passed away two years ago."

What an astounding comparison. "... I'm a cat?"

"Objectively yes, you're a cat. But subjectively, I'll take it as something more." Shinichi shrugged. "Tora was his first and last cat, and he treasured its companionship more than other humans."

Aoko blinked. "You mean-"

"He dwells on things but never uses the right words to express how he feels; He could've said he didn't mind your company, but instead he thought of you as his cat." Shinichi shook his head and let out a breath that resembled a laugh. "I guess that's how he is."

The new insights about Kaito was making her heart race, and she was too dumbfounded to say anything...

But luckily, Shinichi paid no heed to her awkward silence and continued. "So, since there's already improvements," he tapped a pen over his folder, his faint smirk still unwavering. "I supposed there's no need for you two to be paired together so often anymore-"

"No." She finally found her voice and spoke with a form of resolution she never thought she had in her life before. "I would prefer if it stays this way."

.o.

Yoshida Ayumi, a fresh graduate from the police academy, was lucky (as commented by Shinichi), or unfortunate (as said by everyone else), to be working with Heiji, Kaito and Aoko for her first mission. It was a fairly easy one; Kaito hacked the security system, Aoko beat the heck out of the guards, and Ayumi set the bombs, to destroy the factory that was in the midst of developing a prototype for an advanced date-rape drug. Heiji was waiting outside in his getaway car, and once everyone arrived, he drove away in style as the factory danced in flames behind them.

Because the factory was nearly a thousand of miles away from the city, they parked their car by the forest and found a small clearing close by, which was good enough for them to rest before hitting the road in a few hours time.

While Heiji was setting up the tents, Ayumi, who was responsible to collect woods for the fire, came back running to the man while panting and visibly shaking. Sensing something was wrong, he stopped his craft and paid all his attention on her.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Ayumi shook her head. "It's nothing, b-but..."

"Spit it out."

She gulped. "Before I say anything, can I ask if Aoko-chan and Kuroba-kun are... in a relationship?"

"Huh?" Heiji scrunched his face in disgust. "Why would ya ask that?"

Ayumi flushed as she slowly lifted her finger at pointed at the direction of the forest. "Because they are in there and doing s-something."

"What thing?" Heiji frowned. "What did ya see?"

"I didn't see anything!" She exclaimed. "They are just, well, making noises."

"What the hell are they up to?" He abandoned his tools and the incomplete tent before trudging towards the direction where Ayumi previously pointed at.

"Wh-where are you going?" She called out for him.

"To find them of course."

"But they are..." Ayumi blushed even harder. "They are doing something."

"Whatever they are doing, I'll stop them and kick their asses; I'm friggin' hungry and they're supposed to be getting our food." Heiji spat and disappeared into the shadows before she could convince him otherwise again.

Not long later, the noises grew louder, to the point she could hear it from where she was standing. But what made it worse was how she could hear Heiji's voice mixing with Aoko and Kaito's.

"Um, guys?" Ayumi squeaked. "I'm still right here..."

.o.

"I'll update the new rules onto the database by the end of the day." Saguru flipped through the proposal one last time before stopping at a particular page. "But out of curiosity, is there a reason why some rules are so oddly specific? Especially this one." He cleared his throat and read aloud from the file. "Rule Number 16: Even if it is for hunting purposes, do not make any weird noises at animals while leaving the new recruits alone in the forest clearing at night."

The only response Shinichi gave was a sigh.

.o.

The past five minutes of waiting seemed almost like two days for Aoko.

Her head was splitting, her eyes were heavy... The only motivation for Aoko to open her droopy eyes was when she heard the sound of a car passing by, but she went back to her tired state once she realized it wasn't the taxi she was hoping for.

"Oi."

Aoko wouldn't have bothered to turn if she didn't recognize the voice of the man that rudely called out to her. She blinked in surprise. "...Why the hell are you here?"

"Got a mission's brief to go." Kaito drawled and turned to look at the headquarters behind her for emphasis. Once his eyes were back on her, he watched her from head to toe, and she felt like a bug under the telescope. "You look like a zombie." He ungraciously commented. "Can't you at least comb your hair before you come out and give people a heart attack?"

"Speak for yourself when your hair looks like it's fresh from the tornado oven." She scowled.

"It's exactly the style I'm going for." He scoffed and dramatically brushed a hand over his fringe. In a millisecond, his scorn disappeared and his face hardened with solemnity. "On a serious note, are you okay?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to focus. "I'm just tired."

Kaito snorted and tugged two hands into his pockets. "I guess you're just back from that stakeout, right? Told you to let that Osaka-obsessed idiot take the job. He can handle through the nights better than you."

Aoko narrowed her eyes. "Don't belittle me."

"I'm not belittling you, stupid." Kaito sighed and turned away. "Different people energise themselves through different methods. Murder mysteries for Kudo, Toyama's dumplings for Hattori, and sleeping for you."

"Which I'm intending to get now." She clutched on her head as it started to throb. "But there's not a single, goddamn taxi anywhere."

He glanced over his shoulder and stared out at the empty road. "They're probably changing shifts, that's why.

Aoko groaned. "Fabulous."

"...Why don't I send you home?"

Her head jerked up in surprise. "Huh-?"

"Stay here." Without waiting for her reply, he dashed off to who-knows-where.

"Wait-!" She exclaimed with a cough; her throat was burning in retaliation. "Didn't you say you have a brief about a new mission?"

"Screw that briefing." He yelled back at her before disappearing behind a wall.

.o.

Aoko had seen Kaito drove a blue mini cooper to the headquarters several times. So when a black motorbike suddenly stopped dangerously close and in front her, she was tempted to kick the ass out of the reckless motorist, until he tugged his helmet off and showed his wavy hair and brightest blue eyes.

"Y-You!" Aoko gasped. "You're driving a bike today?"

"No, this is my pet cucumber." Kaito rolled his eyes. "My car broke down this morning. What? Is my bike not to your exquisite taste?"

She would have thrown in a couple of her good, snarky remarks if she wasn't so tired that moment. "That isn't it."

"Then hop on."

Why, of all days, did his car choose to break down today? Aoko felt a heavy discomfort swirling in the pit of her stomach over the thought of sitting behind him and going through different phases of awkwardness if she accidentally touched him. She tried to think of a good position that would minimize their contact, but his calm stares that were peering into her soul was making her more frantic than she ought to be. Giving up on contemplating, she simply sat behind Kaito, although making sure there was at least a tiny space in between them.

"Here." He half turned and passed her another helmet. "I know your skull is hard to crack but let's not take a risk."

Aoko made a face at his teasing smirk before muttering her thanks and buckling the strap under her chin. It wasn't prominent, but she mindlessly wondered why the helmet smelt new, as if no one worn it before. She was sort of expecting it to be tainted with scents of perfumes, since he must have probably picked up tons of girls to go for fun rides together (She never really knew what his life was outside work, but no harm guessing).

She destroyed her thoughts like a bug after compelling to herself that it wasn't any of her business.

The engine during the ride was so deafening that it took her a while before she realized he had been asking her if she was alright for the past few seconds. She yelled back, replying she was fine, and returned to focus on the passing people and buildings. The strong wind was tangling her hair into a mess, but she let it be. She was too bloody exhausted from yesterday's mission, and the drowsiness was kicking in again.

When the bike was coming to a stop at a red light, she unintentionally leaned against his back to stop herself from falling off the bike. The millisecond contact managed to shock her awake, though her eyes grew heavy and she found herself struggling to keep awake again.

By the third red light, Aoko couldn't suppress the temptation and allowed herself to slump half of her body on his back. And maybe if it wasn't so comfortable, there might be a one in a million chance that she wouldn't have fallen asleep at all.

.o.

She felt as though she was being carried up the stairs, going up one step, going up another step, and the movement made her feel like she was being rocked in a baby crib too. There was a faint smell of gun powder and a hint of cologne that Aoko recognized. And then a bundle of warmth, so cosy... so familiar...

Aoko flung open her eyes and sat up from whatever she was lying on, so quickly that her head slightly hurts. Ignoring the dizzy spells, she whirled around to analyse her current situation, and only managed to calm down when she recognized her surroundings; she was in her bed and-

Her eyes glanced down. Ok, she was clothed too.

Nothing happened, right? She couldn't remember much. Everything felt like a dream, dancing and floating in her brain. The only thing she was clear of was Kaito standing in the middle of the pavement and offering her a ride back home. But she was in her own bed now. So...

Realization dawned upon her in and instant.

Aoko slapped her pillow over her face to muffle her screams. Sleeping on his back was already an absurd thing, but to get carried all the way to her bed from his bike? Should she request for an identity change? Would it be too late to pack her bags and migrate to somewhere far from this place? Like Hawaii, for example? The humiliation was unbearable. She'd been gaining weights as of late too!

After a few minutes of internal struggle, Aoko finally dumped the pillow aside before she managed to smother herself to death. Maybe a shower would be good to calm her thoughts now. Just as she was about to lift herself off her bed, something unfamiliar on her bedside table caught her eyes.

It was a white plastic bag, with a note placed over it.

You have a slight fever. Eat the onigiri and take the pills afterwards.
Don't need to worry about paying me. I'm going to claim the expenses from Kudo. You're welcome.
P.S: I don't know what kind of onigiri you like so I randomly bought one.
P.P.S: You should tell me next time.
-Kaito

Aoko couldn't fight back the smile that appeared on her lips (and truth to be told, she didn't even realize it herself). She reread the note a few more times before rummaging through the plastic bag, which consist of the promised onigiri and pills. Following the advice of the note, she took the onigiri out and began to unwrap it, until she paused to check the packaging that caught her eyes.

He had bought her a pickled plum onigiri.

And it was actually her favourite one out of all.

.o.

Due to a mild snowstorm, their domestic flight to Sapporo was cancelled and they opted for the bullet train instead. It was fine either way. They would still finish their mission on time.

They threw a couple of jokes at each other during the first half an hour of the train journey, and by the next half an hour, they were ignoring each other because one of their insults might have been taken too far. But soon, they mutually and inwardly decided to fall into silence, and it was comfortable enough to allow them to do their own things in peace; Aoko had brought a Sudoku book with her while Kaito kept to his phone games.

With the shades down and the therapeutically, soft rumbles coming from the train tracks, it was definite that their source of interest wasn't able to keep them awake for too long. But between the two, Kaito was the first to doze off. His head was lowered, and the grip around his phone had loosened as it fell on his lap.

She placed his phone on his unused armrest before quietly pulling out her jacket from her bag pack. And as gentle as she could, she placed it over his body before settling back on her seat. She held her breath and waited for him to stir or show signs of awakening, but as seconds passed to a minute, she finally lowered her guard when she knew he wasn't going to wake up and went back to her Sudoku again.

Aoko didn't know how it happened, but she fell asleep in the midst of solving the third puzzle. Later when she woke up, she found the jacket over her instead, and Kaito, who was sitting quietly beside her, was playing his phone game and acting as if nothing had happened.

.o.

Their shrewd and insane understanding of math and physics claimed them the title of the Einstein duo; from how she could accurately deduce the number of bones a person would break if they fall from different stories building, to how he could correctly calculate the number of bird shits their stakeout van would have at the end of the day. No, they didn't boast these knowledge to others. It just happened when the members were (perhaps unluckily) around to hear their crazy theories and stupid challenges during the interval of their mission (Shiho occasionally joined in when the topic involved her speciality, though Heiji would sulk and tell them to shut up most of the time).

They did it again this time. Aoko speculated that they would take at least three hours to travel down the snow mountains by foot while Kaito guessed it would take them two and a half. One of them would be wrong, or both of them could be wrong; they wouldn't know. Because what they failed to guess was the sudden blizzard that raged the mountain they were trekking across, and they were now trapped inside a small cave they found, stuck, cold and hungry for nearly a whole night.

"I always wanted to see snow when I was young." Aoko randomly said as she stared out of the cave. "But Tokyo rarely snows and my father was too busy to bring me anywhere during the holidays."

Kaito glanced at her, his hands curled together and resting by his lips. For some reason, he made no comment.

"He promised me he would bring me to a ski resort on my eighteenth birthday." Her mouth was dry and painfully cracked when she spoke, but she willed herself to continue. "What he didn't know was I'm actually not good at skiing." She added a soft laughter behind. It was fine, really. Because she still really loved her dad.

"..."

"But in the end, h-he didn't." Her chest was starting to hurt. "Because Snake killed him. They ki-killed him."

Something in her words hit their mark in his eyes as he spun around to look at her, his features contorting as various emotions passed through them. "Snake? ...They are part of that Black Organization-"

"I joined Shinichi and worked with the rest who wanted to wreck vengeance against t-them and finally brought them down." Her vision blurred as hot tears dripped down her cheeks. "But even after their de-destruction, Dad is still not gonna c-come back and bring me to a ski resort like he w-what he promised."

Without a word, Kaito shifted closer to her, and she felt an arm wrapping around her shoulder and pulling her closer to him. He held her like she made out of snowflakes, like he was carrying and protecting something fragile. He smelt like nothing, and Aoko felt weirdly comfortable in his embrace. Her eyes grew heavy, and she snuck her face closer into his chest.

"Hey? Ahouko?" He tugged on her shoulder when he noted the lack of response. "Don't sleep."

"I'm so... tired." She mumbled.

"Don't sleep," Kaito hissed again. His voice was curt, but Aoko detected a slight worry in it.

"I-I miss my father."

"I know," he whispered brokenly to her ears. "But you can't sleep. You can't."

Aoko didn't like the sound of his shaky voice, and out of comfort, she wanted to tell him that she would try, but she blacked out and broke the promise before it could be made.

.o.

Her body was still cold, and the first thing she saw was white, so white like the walls of the freezing cave. So if it wasn't the scent of bleach and medicines, Aoko would have thought she was still inside the cave and not in a hospital.

She forced herself to sit up to find the man she needed to see, and she found him right next to her. Her shoulders slackened and she laid back onto her bed, her heart at ease. He looked alright; no signs of frostbites or other bad symptoms. He was sleeping soundly on his chair, his chest rising and fell with every breath.

Aoko had always seen how he slept (not in a creepy way) during their missions, but this was the first time she cared enough to look at him properly. He looks so calm. So peaceful, though he still had his arms crossed in front of his chest in a gesture that looked defensive. His eyelashes were long, and the lack of his usual grin or smirk made her realize that his lips were actually small... And that was the end of her observation, because all she did for the next two minutes was staring at his lips the entire time.

Somewhere along the corridor, a trolley cart creaked loudly as a nurse pushed it past her ward, and Kaito stirred in his seat. She was used to his laid-back attitude, so when he straightened his posture in a rare exasperated manner after he realized she was awake, she thought it was pretty funny, and she chuckled, though she ended up choking on her breath instead (Was that a sign of karma?).

"Are you okay?" Kaito leaned forward in concern. "Difficult to breathe?"

"I'm fine." She stopped to catch her breath. "Though my chest feels a little bit painful."

He didn't answer, much to her puzzlement.

"Anyway, how did we get here?" She prompted the conversation.

"A rescue team found us."

"... Are there any records?"

"I gave them fake details."

Aoko nodded understandingly. This mission was meant as an undercover; Nakamori Aoko and Kuroba Kaito shouldn't be here. But in all honesty, she already knew Kaito was smart and tactful enough to take care of such things. She just didn't know what else to say, or ask, besides the obvious things.

"You stopped breathing once." Kaito spoke, breaking the silence and pulling Aoko out of her thoughts. She jerked her head up to look at him, but he wasn't looking back. His eyes were on his hands. "It took me an hour to revive you back." His voice was particularly low, and the room suddenly turned eerily quiet that Aoko thought she could hear the sound of her own heart cracked.

"I..." Her hand slowly reached up to her chest. Now she understood why it felt so sore. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's not your fault." He still wasn't looking at her.

"But I am." Aoko pursed her lips. "It must've been hell for you."

Kaito paused, as though he was mulling over it. "Yeah." He answered softly.

Aoko was surprised how a single word could make her heart swell unexpectedly in a sort of sadness. She looked away and pretended to move her fringe when she was really brushing off the tears that slightly filled her eyes. It was the first time she felt like this, something like a little bit sad, a little bit guilty and a little bit happy too, because the man she never knew had the heart to care, did care so much for her after all (She was just too blind to see from the start).

"By the way, you were right." Kaito finally looked into her eyes. "It would take us three hours down the mountain if we travel by foot."

She blinked. "How do you know? Don't tell me you and the rescue team walked all the way down?" The horror of having someone carrying her for three whole hours-!

"We rode on a snowmobile." He said (She was relieved to notice the subtle change in his voice; it was stronger and less softer now). "Took around ten minutes to reach the ground. So after multiplying and dividing the figures, the answer is three hours."

"Snowmobile? It must've been fun." Aoko laughed, though careful to be soft so her ribs wouldn't hurt. "Maybe we should go back so I can try it."

He didn't join in her laughter. "You almost died."

"Keyword: almost." Aoko showed him a finger gun. "But hey, I'm still alive."

Kaito scowled. "Did you just quote me?"

Finally, some parts of his tension were gone.

Aoko gave a teasing shrug before looking down at her hospital wristband. "Anyway, let's get out of here before the doctors check on me." She didn't wait for his answer and tore the wristband out.

He looked hesitant to agree on her idea. "Don't you need more rest?"

"I should be the one asking you that."

Kaito scoffed. "I'm better than ever."

She wasn't sure if he was speaking the truth since his facade was a hard shell to crack, but she choose to believe him for now. "Good, and same here. Oh, can we still make it to the airport?"

He unlocked his phone to check the time. "Maybe."

Just as she was about to stand, he grabbed her arm and pushed her back down on the bed.

"You're not allowed to walk." He said firmly.

Although she did technically almost died, she wouldn't allow herself to continue being a burden. "Then should I crawl?" She wrinkled her nose.

Kaito faked a dry laugh. "I'll go steal a wheelchair." He stood up from his seat and trudged out of the ward. Just steps before he walked out of the door, he turned and looked at her, which caught her by surprise and made her heart unknowingly skip a beat.

"Yeah?" She asked when there was no response.

"Wait for me here." He finally said, and left for the corridor.

What a silly thing to say; Because Kaito should know that besides himself, there wasn't anyone else Aoko could wait for anymore.

.o.

In the past, her father was prone to injuries during his time as a police office and often had to stay in hospital. And after working with Shinichi, it didn't really change (she being the visitor and the patient). Sometimes, it almost seemed like hospital was her second home, and she thought she'd grown over-familiar with the smell and sight of it, until now.

It had been long since she felt this way; Frantic and agitated, like her heart was about to burst into flames. The last time Aoko ran so fast was the night she got a call from the Sakata, one of her father's subordinate back then, and was told to come the hospital quick, because her father might not be able to make it.

It was unsettling that this situation was similar. Almost, but not quite at the same time.

Aoko sprinted through the hospital corridor, unable to say her apologies to the irritated patients and angry nurses she almost knocked into because all her breath was focused on running. She almost missed the ward if it wasn't for Saguru who suddenly opened the door, as though he telepathically knew she was going by the door.

"Nakamori-san?" He ironically blinked at her in surprise.

She raised a hand to stop him from saying anything else. "Masumi told me."

Realization dawned upon his face. "I see, and you're here for Kuroba?"

The way he phrase it made her flush, though her cheeks were thankfully already red from running. "Yeah."

"He's in there." The blonde glanced over his shoulder and exhaled a heavy sigh that didn't fit his style.

Aoko could feel her stomach churn. "Is he okay?"

"Physically fine," he paused, and let the words hang in the air, as though he didn't wish to say and hope Aoko could speculate on her own. "Sorry about this but I do have to say you came at a good time. I need to go back to the HQ to talk to Kudo-san too so I'll leave him in your care."

"No worries."

After Saguru left, Aoko closed the door behind her. The air was heavy, and the blinds were lowered, making the room a little darker than what Aoko would like. She stopped, took in a deep breath, and took another step before she could fully see Kaito on his bed.

He was sitting up, with an upright pillow supporting his posture. Like what Saguru said, Kaito looked physically fine, but it didn't seem like it was anything better. She had to stop in her tracks again, to control that aching feeling in her chest as she watched him staring down blankly at a pair of white gloves, which she recognized as the one he always used during their missions.

"Hey," Aoko murmured, and forced herself to walk to the side of his bed as casually as possible. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." His voice was barely audible. If Aoko didn't see his lips moved, she would think she was imagining his voice.

"I heard about what happened." Aoko held back a sigh. Just last week, Shinichi had sent Saguru, Masumi and Kaito to work with the International Criminal Police Organization, also known as ICPO, to capture a criminal named Nightmare. Their job was as simple as it sounded, but things somehow went wrong at the end, and Nightmare died after falling off a construction site. And another shocking thing was that Nightmare turned out to be Jack Connery, one of the ICPO members that was hunting himself down all along.

Masumi, who was the one who told Aoko all that happened when they met at the headquarters a while ago, also mentioned how Kaito tried to save Nightmare, but he failed and injured himself in the process.

And hence she was here.

It took him a long while before he responded her with a nod. Still, it was better than nothing.

She braced herself to continue. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"..."

Even after all this time, she knew there were rooms inside of him that he had never let anyone guess at, let alone enter. There were questions he wouldn't answer, topics he would discuss only vaguely-

"Kenta doesn't have a mother." He suddenly said.

Aoko looked up in surprise. She wasn't expecting a reply at all. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her head, she spoke. "Kenta...?"

"Jack Connery's son."

She lowered her gaze, finally understanding what Kaito meant. If Kenta's mother wasn't around... it would mean he was an orphan now.

There was an strong urge surging within her; she wanted to say something, anything, to make Kaito feel better. But she knew whatever thoughts that were in her mind, whatever words that she was going to say, would be meaningless and inconsiderate. With those things stuck in her throat, and all she could really do now was to listen, providing if Kaito was willing to tell her too.

"I couldn't save him." He broke the silence again.

Aoko straightened, a silent encouragement for him to continue.

His grip around his gloves tightened. "And I couldn't save Kenta from knowing the truth about his father."

"That couldn't be helped-"

"If I didn't fucking injure myself, I could've shot Nightmare's mask out of Jack's face." Kaito took in a deep breath. "And Kenta wouldn't have to see the truth."

"But maybe he ought to know the truth-"

"No." His word sliced Aoko's sentence to a clean stop. "Because Kenta doesn't deserve this shit. Not at this age. Not when he has no one else to rely on anymore."

Her mind was as blank as her words.

"My dad, like your father, died under the hands of Snake too." Kaito didn't wait for Aoko to fully express the shock in her as he continued. "But he didn't die because he was doing his duty for the country. He died because he wanted to protect his worthless son, which is me."

Aoko let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding all along.

What... Snake?!

"It was a day before Christmas." Kaito closed his eyes. "And my dad and I were supposed to go for Christmas shopping together."

Supposed didn't sound like a nice word, and Aoko wondered if he was playing the possibly horrible memory in his head now. She didn't want him to recall anything painful in his life, but at the same time, she selfishly wanted to know about his past too.

"While we were getting to our car, Snake suddenly appeared, and demanded that if my father doesn't continue working for them, they'd kill me there and then." Kaito opened his eyes, and his gaze could almost cut like knifes. "He was then shot in the head at point blank when he digress."

Aoko had the temptation to dig Snake out of his grave, just so she could kill him a second time. She took in a deep breath and decided to focus on the conversation first, and fast, in case Kaito put up his barriers again. "But... Why did you father work for Snake in the first place?" She had recited the question at least ten times correctly in her head before she dared to ask.

"He was the best magician in the world," Kaito's face slacked a little, before it hardened once he spoke again, "and because of his talents and expertise, he caught Snake's eyes, which he then coerced my dad to join his thieving business or he'd kill me and my mother. And so my father did."

"Kenta doesn't deserve all these but... so do you and your father too. Y-You can't possibly be blaming your father, right?" Aoko's shook her head desperately. "At least he wasn't like Nightmare. He was forced to be a criminal, for you and your mother's sake."

"I'm not talking about that." His face contorted in a way Aoko had never seen before, not even the times when he had suffered wounds that she thought he might die for. "What I'm saying is that, to Kenta, I'm no different from Snake; I caused his father's death, and let him suffer through the horror of knowing the father he loved and admired was a criminal all along."

"How could you refer yourself to Snake?! You're far from him." She said, exasperated. Oh God this conversation was getting out of hand. The last thing she needed was for Kaito to self-degrade and-

And something even worse happened; his eyes went blank again, and her panic rose even higher than before.

"Kai-"

He lowered his gaze and stared at his gloves again. "Sorry, but I need to be alone."

Aoko knew what he was about to say before he did, although she wished he hadn't. She wanted to stay, but if being alone was what he wanted- needed, she couldn't possibly go against his wishes. She lingered for a few moments (hoping he'd change his mind at the last second), before tentatively nodding her head to his request.

"I'll leave." She paused. "But if you need me, I'll be outside."

It bothered her that he didn't answer, but she let it go.

She found a seat that had a perfect view of the ward. Though her eyes were fixated at the door, her mind occasionally drifted from here and there. The thought of her father, Kaito's father, and Snake, and how they had somehow crossed path with each other... It was unbelievable. The little details that Aoko never noticed before began to make sense; she remembered Shiho told her about Kaito was part of destroying the Black Organization, but it didn't occur to her that his involvement was because he was one of the people who wanted to wreck vengeance against them and bring them down.

It was as though she knew him (like how he hated fish and sucked at ice-skating), but at the same time not knowing much about him at all.

Minutes ticked by and it was close to an hour when a nurse opened the door and wheeled the food trolley into Kaito's ward. Aoko hesitantly stood up from her seat, wondering if she should use this chance to take a tiny peek at Kaito. But before she could put her thoughts into action, the nurse suddenly ran out the room with a frantic look on her face. Aoko sensed something was obviously wrong and sprinted to the nurse's side, tugging onto her flailing arms to calm her down.

"What happened?"

"The patient is gone! I need to inform the doctors!"

True to what the nurse said, Kaito was nowhere to be found; and all he had left, besides himself, was the wrinkled sheets and the drawn up blinds.

Though the room was now brighter than before, it did nothing to ease the dark and heavy feeling in her heart.

.o.

No one made Aoko look forward to waking up every day like he could, no one made her question herself like he did, and it was the fact that she trusted him when he wasn't undermining her, that she wanted his support even when she told herself his opinions were worthless; He was just everything she needed him to be.

But it wasn't the same anymore.

To refrain herself from crying to sleep for the past few days, she had to stop thinking about what he'd said, what he'd did, and all those moments that they'd had, but it was all branded in her memories, just like a permanent scar she couldn't erase. Then she thought about the things she should have said to him, the things she should have done for him, and those moments when she wanted to turn back time to and change everything.

If she had mustered the courage to speak, insisted to stay by his side, maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have left and disappeared on his own.

And this, she wondered, if it was all her fault all along.

.o.

Months flew by and there was absolutely no contacts.

Everyone knew of his capabilities, and Aoko knew it too; If Kaito wants to hide, he would make sure no one could find him.

And he did just that.

Aoko wanted to think it was alright, that this could be a good break for him to let loose and reflect on matters that were important to him. But the more she wanted to let him go, the more she couldn't accept it. Because the truth was that she couldn't live a second without him.

She couldn't do it at all.

.o.

Aoko wouldn't doubt the people five streets away could see the fire illuminating the night like the sun, its flames going up until it turned into black smoke and the whole cycle repeated without any end.

It had been a while since she took a solo mission, and the first one she had turned out to be like this. How fantastic.

She glanced over her shoulder; the roof was ablaze and in an disastrous state. Half of the emergency door had melted and smoke was filling up her space. She took a step back and accidentally touched the railings, and it instantly scorched her arm.

Abseiling would be a one and perhaps only choice to escape, if she could find any rope. It was good to dream, but not now when her lungs were 400% more prone to cancer. The roof was a goner so the other alternative was to check the bottom of the twenty-stories building, to see if there was anything to get her out of this mess-

There, by the glass windows and around a floor below the roof, was a long banner promoting safety regulations of the company. Maybe, just maybe she could jump and grab the banner! Ignoring her burning hands, she climbed over the railings and stood by the edge of the roof. The smoke was obscuring her vision, but she still got a rough estimation of the distance.

This was it. She closed her eyes. She had no more time to waste-

All of the sudden, something, or someone, grabbed her arm and pulled her back before her jump. Aoko shrieked, and found herself twirled like a ballerina before face planting into the person's strong and firm chest. The comfort was familiar, but she didn't dare to think too far...

"Who are you?" She yelled over the sound of fire crackling around them. Their faces were close but she couldn't see much due to thick smoke and his hat-

As though he knew her thoughts, the man pulled his cap upwards, exposing two, bright blue eyes under his brown fringe.

Her breath hitched.

Sorry that I've kept you waiting. "Just trust me."

You're an idiot. "Okay."

And they jumped.

Others find their safe haven in house of kittens or garden of flowers, but she found hers by wrapping her arms around him and jumping off a twenty stories building together.

.end.

A/N: It feels like ages since I write AUs... but anyway, here's another sloppy and anti-climax ending because that's how I roll.
Thank you for reading till the end. Reviews, as always, are appreciated!