When Pandora bleeds... (Shinkai)

Concerns of an Old Friend

The woman with the soft brownish hair didn't even remember driving this way before she ended up at her old childhood home, Ekoda. She had long since moved out from her father's, leaving him to fend for himself and enjoy his retirement- he deserved to relax, after what KID had constantly put him through. Aoko clenched the fabric of her dress at the thought of the gentleman thief, trying to suppress once again the upcoming emotions it brought along.

Aoko stopped in front of Kaito's old family home, and pulled quietly over. She wasn't going to be in the way of any residents. Through the windows of her car, the keibu inspected the house with a hint of nostalgia filling her belly. Yes, she remembered all those sleepovers, all those cooking sessions, all those birthday parties and all those magic tricks Kaito had shown to her. Her eyes started to burn, her cheeks grew warm, slow and gentle tears rolled down her skin. What was this pain inside her chest?

The day he confessed... No, even before... when his father died, a part of Kaito died with him. How could she just oversee that? She used to be as close as ever to him... or was that only her imagination?

Obviously, else Kaito would have confessed to her long ago. It made sense, in a way. His father must have been Kaitou KID, and Kaito must have somehow figured it out short before the new KID appeared years later. Who could have guessed her childhood friend would have taken up the role of a moonlighting phantom thief? And all that to find and secure a stupid gem?

What could have been so important about this single gem that it had been worth for Kaito and his father to throw their lives away, just like this? Kaito had said himself he didn't believe a single word of the immortality the gem promised.
Aoko made a soft tch noise and wiped her tears with her sleeves. Immortality, ridiculous. And yet it must have been important enough to set their lives on the line.

"And Kuroba-san lost his life..."

Aoko sighed and shook her head, turning the keys and the engine came back to life. She needed to get home and store her groceries away. This house hadn't been in the possession of the Kuroba household since Kaito had had just up and disappeared, and his mother had sold it soon after collecting her wealth from it.
And had sent in builders to... fix something? Aoko hadn't been quite sure why there had been a building crew inside the house, she never recalled anything being in the need of fixing.

Slowly, the woman took off from her parking spot, careful eyes lasting on the street. Why did she even come here? What made her drive all the way out to Ekoda again? The unknown feelings inside her angered her a little, and the temper of her father came through again as she began to curse under her breath and clench the steering wheel inside her hands.

Why was Kaito here? Why was he just casually strolling around her supermarket, in her area? Wasn't he in middle of his travels? But no, the news had reported him collapsing at the airport not too long ago. Maybe a month? She wasn't quite sure.

A short twist of concern formed within her, and she quickly shut it down again. What was it to her that he was overexhausting himself again? He must have been used to it anyway, regarding his heist schedule since his teens.
But he looked awake, almost reborn, and full of energy. Had he been healing again from whatever had been the reason for his exhaustion?

Aoko shook her head. No. Stop it. Kaito-kun didn't concern her any longer, she wanted nothing to do with him. She knew the moment they would get together again, she would let her emotions run wild and scream at him until her throat would have dried out.
And yet, why didn't he recognize her? Or did he recognize her and just played dumb? That stupid pokerface of his... It was its fault that Kaito had been able to shut himself off so well!

No. No, it had been her fault. Her fault, her mistake. She should have been a better friend. Maybe Kaito would have confided in her if she wouldn't have always been so childish and hot tempered. Aoko started crying again behind the car wheel which frustrated her only more. Why couldn't she just let go of the past? Why were there so many emotions whenever she thought of Kaito?

ALL THIS?! ALL THIS FOR A GEM?!

Her own words haunted her, the insults she had thrown after him, it all just turned into more and more tears until she had to pull over, it was too unsafe for her to continue her way.
The keibu just sat there, inside her car, crying and crying, once again letting emotions overwhelm her. She had been an awful friend. She couldn't even remember when she had properly been there for him in their teens. She could have had a loving family by now, with him, if she wouldn't have been such an awfully childish and mean girl.

Head resting in her folded arms, Aoko sobbed her heart out, unbeknownst to her watched by a pair of absolutely startled indigos just a few meters further.

Hey guys! It's not much with this new chapter, but Author-chan is going to pick up slack again. I will have to study for my midterm, but I'll try to update a bit again from time to time.
Lots of love to you!