Detective Conan - Magic Kaito oneshots

Way down we go- A heart to heart part 3

Previously...Tonight was going to be a long but pleasant night which would undoubtedly strengthen their friendship and maybe help both of them overcome hidden insecurities, she thought as Kaito and her walked over to her house side by side, smiling contently, KID and his best friend illuminated by the street lamps.

Dinner with Aoko's father had been pleasant and thanks to Aoko's reassuring glances not as awkward as Kaito had feared, seeing as he and Aoko were now hiding a secret from the inspector. Together. Both teens were now busying themselves washing the dishes, Ginzo Nakamori had wandered into his bedroom to get an early rest, leaving the kitchen to fall into a contemplative silence as they followed their own thoughts. And there were loads of them after the revelations of the day.

"Say, Kaito...", Aoko broke the silence at some point without turning away from the sink. Without halting in his movements of stacking the clean plates to return them to the cupboard, her friend replied. "Yes?" Aoko gnawed on her lower lip. Her question, her thought of it alone really, carried the potential to shatter Kaito's heart, fragile as it was after such an emotional day. But if she kept it to herself...it would feel as if she'd be trying to swallow a bowling ball. She took a deep breath. Kaito would know she was lying if she just told him 'nothing' now. It would put a distance between them again when they'd been trying to grow closer by opening up to each other today. If she wanted to preserve whatever progress they'd made, she'd have to be absolutely honest. From now on they would play with open cards. So that they could trust each other again just like in their childhood days. Since she'd asked Kaito to stop lying and pushing her away she was forced to return the favour. She breathed in and out deeply a few times to calm herself. Then she spoke, still not turning around to face him. "With how skilled your father was... I mean he was literally KID-level skilled... Don't you sometimes think that he would've noticed the sabotage and escaped unseen? That he's alive and hiding? Maybe that he's been travelling with your mother all those years?" She took only shallow breaths to not miss his answer after she finished. But there was only silence that met her ears. Even the clatter of the tableware had stopped. A glance over her shoulder allowed her to see that Kaito was frozen in his movement to lift the soup bowls to return them to the cupboard. Suddenly it seemed like the temperature had dropped multiple degrees, the kitchen felt so cold that Aoko had to hold back a shiver. She gulped, but pushed on, knowing that it was probably better for Kaito to deal with this scenario out loud at some point, than silently in his mind without anyone present to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, which would undoubtedly be needed. "What if he returned someday? How would you react?" Something, almost a threatening aura seemed to appear around Kaito at the thought, an invisible air of menace that made every muscle in Aoko's whole body clench to be able to fight or flight should it become necessary. "I would shove him away should he dare to try and touch me, I'd walk away stone-faced and without a word and I would never talk to him or my mother ever again in my whole life.", Kaito's words were daggers of ice aiming to slit throats and stab hearts. Aoko pressed her eyes closed and swallowed hard. Only in this moment did it truly become clear to her how dangerous her childhood friend was. With all the calm she could muster she dried off the last teacup and her own hands with the dishtowel and turned slowly to walk over to the still motionless magician. She had nothing to fear, she told herself, of course Kaito was potentially deadly with all of the skills he possessed, but she couldn't think of a reason why he'd project his pain and rage onto her. She'd never hurt him that bad.

"Hey...", carefully she took the bowls out of his hands and set them down again so she could place both hands on his shoulders and turn him around to face her. The stone-faced expression on his normally smiling face paired with the glare of indigo eyes that seemed to have turned into shards of ice and coldly glowered down at her in equally ice-cold rage send a real shiver down her spine. "Kaito.", she tried to keep her voice steady and hide her insecurity. But failed miserably as she flinched when his hands shot up to grab her wrists and pull her hands of his shoulders. "I could never forgive him for letting Jii and myself believe that he was dead all those years. To leave us behind to suffer and grief while he enjoyed himself!"