Sanctuary Night (Kaitou Kid X OC)

Chapter 26

Aoko has never seen Kaito or Rie so cheerful at the same time on the same day in all the time she's known them. The time she's had with Rie wasn't much compared to her memories with Kaito, but to see them in high spirits was still a sight she thought she'd never see. While Aoko couldn't believe her eyes, this coincidence played into the devilish plans she'd been hatching in the time Rie, Kaito, and Hakuba spent mulling over the dead end case. The mesmerized girl sat behind Rie and beside Kaito, the perfect spot to observe the two as she waited for her chance to strike.

Rie fought back the smile that itched to appear on her face. She remained to look as stoic as she always seemed to be as she listened to the ongoing lecture. Her hand moved on its own as it wrote down important points of the lecture in her notebook. Events of last night echoed in her head. They were finally going to be relieved of this nightmare. She was anticipating Kaitou's plans, waiting for the phantom thief to contact her. For a moment, her dark purple eyes glanced to her left. She saw Kaito's blurred figure from the corner of her eye in that brief second before her thoughts went back to denying his and Kaitou Kid's relations.

Kaito may have looked blurred in Rie's eyes at that instance, but he saw her glance clear as the sky. He's developed a bad habit of staring at Rie during lectures, a habit that Aoko's taken notice of and teases him with. He wondered if she was thinking about the same things he was thinking about.

'Probably not. Rie isn't the type of girl who thinks of herself constantly.' He thought, sighing. He reprimanded himself for this. He should be thinking about when and what to do with the fateful heist. The longer he hesitates, the worse it'll be for her. She's just waiting for all this to blow over. He has his plan but he needs to act on it. What worried him most was putting Sanctuary Night in danger. He was sure she wasn't one to shy away from it, but he can't afford to lose her. Not after everything. It was a necessary factor. He needed her as much as she needed him. As much as he could, he needed to plan for Sanc's safety.

The bell that meant school was over for the day rang and before it even finished its course, Aoko's voice pierced through Kaito's deep thoughts.

"Kaaaaaaaito!" She yelled, despite sitting right next to him. The poor boy flinched and instantly covered his ears.

"What do you want, Ahoko!?"

"Let's go to the open air market fair!"

"The what?"

"Autumn leaves! We always go, remember?"

"Oh, that... I don't know..." Kaito packed up his things and stood up. Aoko only followed his actions by pouting up at him. Rie was quietly packing her things up while she, without a choice, listened in.

"I really wanted to go to the one this week, but Dad insists we go the next week instead..." Aoko began to bat her eyes up at Kaito who only sneered at the sight.

"That's not my problem."

"But Kaito...! You and Rie have to go there and buy a special charm they sell only this week!" At the mention of her name, Rie immediately thought to run away. But Aoko had different plans. Aoko grabbed Rie by the back of her collar and with her other hand, grabbed Kaito's shoulder, shaking him as hard as she could. Rie knew better than to struggle against Aoko's grip so she sighed and looked back at the two in defeat.

"Why do I have to go too?" She asked, her face and tone blank. Aoko stopped shaking Kaito, who was getting ready to puke, and glanced over her shoulder.

"They only sell the charm to couples!" Aoko grinned, relieving Kaito of his misery and held out a peace sign to Rie.

"That sounds like a terrible marketing strategy and it doesn't answer my question..." Rie felt a drop of sweat trail down the side of her forehead, hoping Aoko didn't mean what she thought it meant. Aoko nodded at her and trotted to her chair to pick up her bag, Rie following her with her purple eyes.