Bullets

by

katiesparks

11/28/08

"I hate you." Aoko said quietly, brokenly.

"Do you really?" Kaito asked in return, as if he didn't believe her, or maybe as if he didn't think she believed herself.

"Why would you even ask that?" Aoko said.

"Because if you really hated me, you wouldn't sound so sad."

"I'm sad because I have to hate you. You're Kid, my father's greatest enemy."

Kaito wasn't pleased with her answer. "So just because of your father, you have to hate me? Is that it?"

Aoko looked up at him, her gaze stone cold. "Kid kept my father from spending time with me. Kid made him miss open houses, plays, even my birthday! As much as I love you, Kaito, can't I really forgive Kid for al that he stole from me? Things that couldn't be given back, like time!"

"I'm not going to argue with you about this, Aoko! Your dad chose to do what he did, he could've always let someone else take over for a night, but he didn't, and it's not my fault, it's his and his own bad judgment. And you can't blame me for anything that happened when we were kids; that was my dad, and I'm just his ghost!"

"Did you say ghost?" A voice asked from behind them and they turned around to find a young woman standing there with a familiar little boy. The boy who Kaito let himself be exposed to his best friend in order to try and save, though it was in vain. The bullet was too close to his heart and there wasn't enough time...

"Well Yukio? You said you wanted to talk to Kaitou Kid, aren't you going to say anything? This is your last chance." The woman said to the child in a gentle voice, her eyes friendly and warm. The little boy looked shyly at Kaito before coming out from behind the woman's legs and over to the teenagers.

"Konbanwa, Kaitou Kid-san. I'm Yukio, and I'm your biggest fan. Thank you for trying to save me! I'm sorry I got you in trouble with your girlfriend, though. Did you drop the jewel because you were trying to save me?" he asked, curiously, not noticing how the teenagers blushed at the word girlfriend, nor how his escort was snickering behind her hand.

Kaito regained his Poker Face quickly and knelt down to the ghost's level. "Nope, I still got it. Do you want to see, Yukio-kun?"

"Can I? That would be awesome!" the boy cheered and suddenly, the emerald from that night's heist was in Kaito's hand as the child looked on in amazement. "Wow, how'd you do that?"

Kaito winked. "Magic, of course. How else?"

"Yukio's completely solid, if it helps to know." The woman added and Kaito held out the gem for him to take.

He took it carefully into his slightly transparent hands, running his fingers over its smooth surface. "Why'd you want it? Just to give it back later, I mean. Why? Its so pretty..."

"I tell you, if you keep it a secret. Do you promise?" Kaito said and Yukio nodded fiercely.

"I'm looking for a special jewel that has another jewel inside of it that's really magic. They say it'll make you live forever-"

"Argh!" the ghost woman interrupted him with a disgusted sounding outburst. "Pandora. I hate that stupid gem! Take my advice, Kuroba, when you find the damn thing, try smashing it with something made out of diamond, I can't think of anything else hard enough to break it. Stupid stone..."

"Um, excuse me for asking, yuurei-san, but why do you hate Pandora so much?" Aoko asked, speaking up for the first time since the ghosts appeared in their midst.

"Oh, excuse my manners. You might know me as the Grim Reaper? Souls are so much hard to pull from their bodies when they're using Pandora as super glue."

Kaito ogled her for a moment. "This night gets weirder and weirder. Yukio-kun, may I have that back now?"

"Sure!" The boy handed it back to him, fumbling with it a little and Kaito tried not to shiver as the child's ice-cold fingers brushed his.

"Come now, Yukio, my sweet. Your father's been waiting a long time to see you. Let's not make him wait much longer. Oh, and a message for you two. Kaito-kun, your father wants you to know he's proud of you, that you're doing better than he'd ever dreamed of, though he wishes you could have just let him rest instead of resurrecting him like this. And it's not like Shin-chan isn't going to get them anyways-whops! I've said too much! Ah, but Aoko-chan? You mother says to think very carefully before you make anymore choices and to please start eating more, your worrying her, you've been withering away lately. She says she loves you too and to be happy. We have to leave now. Say goodbye, Yukio."

"Bye bye!"

The two ghosts disappeared as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving the two living inhabitants alone once again.

Kaito suddenly laughed. "Where were we?"

Aoko blinked. "I've forgotten...Poor Yukio..." he eyes began to water slightly.

"Oi, Aoko, don't cry, it's okay. Please don't cry!" Kaito said, worriedly.

She took a deep breath. "I'm okay...I'm not angry anymore."

Kaito let out a breath he didn't remember holding. "I never really was. So where do we go from here?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. But I'm tired of fighting my father's battles. They're his problems. I'll make my own enemies. Or, better yet, I'll try hard not to make any enemies at all."

"That...That's a good idea. Better than any I've ever had. Did you have an epiphany?" Kaito asked.

"Maybe, I'm not sure."

In the end, they both decided they wanted to fight their own battles, not the battles of their fathers before them. They'd had enough of ghosts for many, many tragic lifetimes. And that was good enough for them.