Detective Conan - Magic Kaito oneshots

The top hat wearing elephant in the room- A heart to heart part 2

Previously... Reprimanding himself in his mind for entering through his window and just shrugging the costume off before stuffing it behind the portrait because he'd been too tired to care, Kaito gathered the pile of white fabric in his arms- and froze as a sigh deeper than the horror filled ocean sounded from the door, followed by the calm and collected voice of his childhood friend. "Idiot."

Kaito whipped around to see Aoko standing in the doorway, a refilled plate of cookies in her hands and a weirdly sad look upon her face. Oh no- no no no no no no no! Immediately his brain started presenting him with hundreds of possibilities of how to best gas Aoko with the remaining sleeping gas pellets in his suit and make all of this seem like a dream to her. Even though the thought hurt his very heart to destroy all of the progress they'd made in their friendship just this afternoon. An alarmed look crossed her face and she took a careful step forward as if she'd read his thoughts. Or maybe she'd seen his hand sneaking towards the suit pocket. "No, Kaito please! Don't do this to me, to us! Stop pushing me away!" There were tears in her bright eyes and her words were interrupted by the occasional trembling of her chest as sobs tried to force their way out. It broke Kaito's heart to see his beloved friend like this. He couldn't... But if he didn't... If she knew... It would mean... His hand slipped away from the pocket... His arms went slack and the costume dropped to the floor... A single tear rolled down his cheek as it hit home that the game of tricks and lies between them was over. That he'd lost it. And her too? It was almost as if a dam broke. "Kaito!" Aoko had put the cookies aside in an instant and was at his side, catching him in a hug when his legs gave in and he fell to his knees, taking her down with him. "Shhhh, it's alright. I'm here, we're here and... You know, let's just... talk... about the top hat wearing elephant in the room." Despite the soft tone of her words Kaito kept as quiet as a- one of those terrible monsters of the ocean, while he clung to Aoko like a drowning man. "Look, I think we both know that I don't understand this but... I'm willing to listen and try. Kaito?", Aoko whispered soothingly as she caressed his head and held him close. But her friend remained as stock still as if he'd been frozen. With slightly trembling fingers the girl continued the affectionate caressing, growing more and more concerned and freaked out by the other continuing to be a lifeless dead weight. She was wayyyyy out of her league here, this wasn't a simple heart to heart like before. "Kaito, I can help you. Please let me.", the high schooler mumbled as she pulled back slightly to get a look at his expression. It was an eerily expressionless pokerface that she was confronted with, one so creepily devoid of any human notion that she felt a shiver run down her spine. "Kaito...", the word left her mouth as barely more than a breath. The teenager caught a glimpse of the look in the boy's eyes. She couldn't properly make eye contact in the position they'd crumpled to the floor in, but despite that he seemed to be staring unblinkingly into space, Aoko was somehow sure that all of her childhood friend's attention was solely focused on her. He was waiting for her to say something. But what? Something to redeem him, it seemed. To break him free from invisible chains of...fear? "Kaito.", she repeated in a steady strong voice. "I-...", she gulped, rethought if she could really truly say the words with honesty in consideration of everything that had happened, if she felt their meaning- and she found that she could, for Kaito. "I forgive you." A slow heart wrenching sob tore from the boy's throat. As if someone had flipped a switch he started crying loudly and brutally while burying his head in Aoko's shoulder. Who in turn flinched. She couldn't remember ever seeing Kaito cry like this, not even when his father died. At least not in her presence. The teenager's grips on each other tightened as Kaito held onto Aoko and Aoko held Kaito. She cried silent tears of shared pain as she held her friend throughout his suffering. The girl didn't understand what was going on in the slightest but holding Kaito as he cried was something she could do.

Eventually the boy calmed himself and drew back from their tangled embrace to look at the girl with the fondest of looks from red puffy eyes. "I always thought I'd lose you forever if you discovered my secret...", he mumbled sheepishly. "That's a hasty assumption regarding all those years we spend together.", Aoko replied almost scolding. By now she was sure that she would've forgiven him at any point in their lives, no matter if he would've told her or if she would've discovered it herself. It may have needed time, but she would've done it. Always. He should know that. "I would've always forgiven you. There's nothing you're able to do that I'd be unable to forgive you for.", she told him earnestly, aware that he needed her reassurance right now. Kaito answered her with a sceptical snort and a raised eyebrow. "How about premeditated murder?" She gave him a deadpan look. "The day you'd wilfully take someone's life would be the day it started raining pigs. You'd rather end your own life than someone else's. Which isn't a challenge, understood?!" He gave a fragile chuckle. "Understood." They smiled weakly at each other, faces flushed and eyes reddened and watery from crying. Their clothes were crumpled and Kaito's hair was even messier than usual from Aoko's caresses, if such a thing was even possible.