A heart to heart

"Kaito!" A bag clattered to the ground downstairs. Just how had she found the spare key again? He'd hidden it so carefully to prevent sudden unexpected break-ins like this! Kaito sighed and swivelled around in his chair so that he was facing the door when it was thrown open. "Kaito!" "What?", he responded already close to complete exasperation. Just when he had a free afternoon that made it possible to actually put some effort into doing his homework Aoko just had to have other plans, didn't she? "Kaito, I think we should talk." "Oh, whatever dear gods may be out there, I'm fearing for my life!" "I didn't say I'll let the mop talk...though now that you've made me remember..." The boy heaved a sigh in defeat. Fine, so she was going to stay it seemed. "Well, are you just going to keep standing in the door? Sit on the bed, I'll get us something to drink and maybe a snack if you're nice." "I'm not a five-year-old!", she shouted after him as he trudged down the stairs only to nearly fall over her school bag that she'd just left downstairs, lying in the middle of the hallway. "You're making me believe otherwise! Learn to put your things away so that nobody trips over them!", he yelled up to her as he stepped over the bag deliberately and made his way into the kitchen. "Like you're one to talk!", came the immediate reply from upstairs. Then there were footsteps pounding loudly down the stairs and a surprised shout as Aoko presumably fell over her own bag. The teenage magician in the kitchen nearly spilled the juice he was just pouring into two glasses as he tried to contain his laughter at the sound. "Told you!" He just couldn't help it. That situation had been begging to end like this, he'd seen this coming. Of course, he'd also seen the consequences of his incapability to keep his mouth shut coming and dodged the mop expertly that was swung at him, even though he was holding two filled glasses. Not one drop was spilled, phantom thief training was paying off. He'd expected more hits to come, but surprisingly enough the mop went as fast as it came. Something wasn't right... "Hey. Are you alright?", he dared to ask. "Yes. It's just a more serious talk than usual that I think we should have.", his childhood friend replied with a sincere smile. "Uhm..." "Nothing to worry about, really!", the girl tried to assure him. "In fact, we should probably do homework first, that's way more important." "O...kay...?" The awkward conversation was ended by the girls energetic nod as she took the glasses from him and placed them on a tray together with a juice and a water bottle as well as a plate of cookies of which he wasn't entirely sure where it came from. On their way back upstairs, he carried her bag for her as she held the tray in both hands. He could be the gentleman in his private life if he wanted to- that was just something nobody needed to know obviously... The young thief refrained from snickering; out of old habit he'd had a look at Aoko's panties as he was climbing the stairs behind her. Ah yes, old habits die hard. Maybe being a gentleman outside of his KID costume wasn't possible after all... He heard Aoko's exasperated sigh. "Yes, before you comment on it, they're grey with purple roses. Seriously Kaito they're just clothes, why do you obsess over them so much? It's not like I'm wearing nothing underneath my skirt!" He very nearly choked on his own spit at her words, but his childhood friend completely ignored it. "I guess I should ask why all of us obsess over them so much..." Kaito listened to the unusual reply stunned into silence. No screeching, no mop-fu, no raging fury and ear-splitting shouts of the most horrendous insults? She had to be sick! "Are you sure you're alright?", he repeated, hiding the real worry in his words. "Yes yes, now let's get on with homework.", Aoko smiled in return as they entered his room.

He had to admit he'd done a pretty amazing job at doing his homework if he dare say so himself, given the fact that he hadn't really been able to concentrate on it for a single second. Aoko was just finishing the last sentence of her's. He watched her pen glide over the paper...it stopped, was lifted higher, was closed and disappeared in her blue pencil case. "So, the talking you wanted to do?" "Yes.", she turned around to face him. They were both sitting on the ground, their stuff spread out around them, the way they'd done homework together since elementary school since neither of their desks was large enough for two and the bed wasn't exactly ideal to write on. Still wanting to stay in the privacy of the walls of their own rooms they'd started opting for this way of doing their homework together some day and had stuck with it. "Kaito, I think we should be honest with each other." Uh oh- half of the worldwide wanted thief's alarm bells started ringing. Had he given her any indication about his secret identity? "Yes, I'd call that a good idea...", he ventured carefully. "That's why...I wanted to tell you that I had a crush on you until a few months ago..." Phew, this had nothing to do with KID. Oh, he was subjected to an expectant look- was he supposed to comment on that? "Uh...tell me something I don't know?", he tried. Aoko gawked at him as if Pandora had just grown out of his forehead. While that would be handy... "You knew? All this time? I guess I wasn't very good at hiding it, huh?" "Nope.", he grinned, popping the p, happy that she didn't seem to be upset. Then again, she'd said that she had had a crush on him until a few months ago... Which might've hurt his ego just a little...but this wasn't about him. "So why did you never confront me about it?", she asked with nothing but genuine curiosity. "I figured if you wanted me to know you'd tell me." That was how one was supposed to approach something like that right? It was the decision of the one with the crush if they wanted to confess or not. "Who would've thought that you'd be capable of sensible thoughts?", his best friend exclaimed incredulously. He only commented her mocking with a snort. "And why did you never tell me? Scared of humiliation?" Two could play this game. "No, I know you Kaito. You're a ruthless prankster, but you're not cruel. No, I didn't tell you 'cause I was insecure about a lot of things. If I was the right one for you, if we'd lose our friendship if it didn't work out, if it was more than just a fun little crush, you know, true love..." "And you thought it wasn't?", now he'd gotten curious. "That's the thing, I wasn't sure... I'm not like the other girls who think that you need to act on every little whisper of a feeling, that you should behave like a slave to your emotions." He nodded along; his opinion lay around the same lines. Nothing could work when it had been forced into existence. "So, I figured I'd wait and see if it would last and if it did, it was probably real love." "Good approach, but it didn't though." "Correct observation." The two grinned at each other just like when they'd been partners in crime back in middle school, pranking the bullies. They hadn't had a heart to heart like this in forever...it felt good. He hadn't noticed until now how much he'd missed it and if the look in her eyes was anything to go on, neither had she. "So, what happened?", Kaito inquired. "I don't know. I guess I got over it. You're more to me than a lover. But not the love of my life...in that way. You're more than a friend, you're my best friend, my brother in everything but blood." Kaito hummed in response. "That actually describes it pretty good." "Right?" The two giggled, still sprawled on the ground. Peaceful silence filled the room. Then Aoko lifted her head to look him in the eye as she propped up her head on her hands. "Anything you'd like to talk about?", she asked neutrally. "You know, it was the same with me.", he confessed. "Huh?!", Aoko seemed seriously surprised, as if she'd expected something but not this. "I guess unlike you I was quite good at hiding it, huh?", he laughed at the flabbergasted look on her face. He only ever saw her make such hilarious faces when they were alone. She was probably ashamed or felt embarrassed doing so in public... They'd spend so little time together that he'd nearly forgotten she could be goofy as well. That was a sad thought to think about. "Good at hiding it?! I never noticed a thing! How did you do that?" Kaito chuckled. "Pokerface.", he winked. Aoko groaned and facepalmed. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?", she chuckled. "Pretty much.", Kaito joined her in her chuckling. The two calmed themselves. "So, you weren't sure about your feelings either?" Kaito nodded. "I noticed a romantic affection, but it was so small in comparison to how much I loved you as a friend and maybe also as a kind of sister... It just didn't seem like a priority." "Imagine we'd confessed earlier and actually started something... I don't think we would've survived it, not even thinking about it working. I would've beat you to death with my mop after a month or so!", she burst out laughing and Kaito joined her once more, genuinely sharing the sentiment. "Bah, imagine us kissing!", Aoko choked out in between peals of laughter. "Ewwwww!", Kaito responded, wiping tears of laughter off his cheeks. Eventually their laughter subsided once more and they found themselves having moved closer to each other, Kaito resting the back of his head on Aoko's stomach while his hands were clutching his own that was hurting from their laughing fit. Aoko carted her fingers through his messy hair as the two struggled to regain their breaths. "I missed having heart to hearts with you.", she smiled into the silence. "Yeah, me too.", Kaito sighed, for once in a long time feeling completely at ease in her presence. "The cookies are gone, you know." The smile on her face had dimmed. "Really? You're thinking about food when we just had our first 'let's talk about us' moment in years?", the teenage magician whined. "Jup.", the girl replied nonchalantly. Something was bothering her. Kaito could tell, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Had he left something out that she'd wanted to hear? Had he disappointed her in some way? The phantom thief gnawed on his lower lip, of course just when they'd gotten closer again something like this had to happen. "I'll refill the plate." All of a sudden, she was pushing his head away to get up and head downstairs. Kaito sat up and looked around the room going through a million reasons why she would be mad at him right now inside his mind. All of his thoughts came to a halt when he discovered the smallest corner of his cloak peeking out under the edge of his father's portrait. Aoko couldn't have seen it, he'd subconsciously made sure that the portrait was always behind her back. But...better safe than sorry. The messyhaired magician got up and activated the portrait after throwing a cautious glance at the open door leading into his room. 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."