When Pandora bleeds... (Shinkai)

A Horrible Friend

Shinichi narrowed his eyebrows, for a moment just staring back before his brain finally registrated what she had said. For a second, he hesitated. This woman obviously wasn't a simple fan but someone who knew KID, thus he was everything but sure she was going to believe the lie of them being twins. Yet despite that, Shinichi knew he was still just as awful at making up excuses, and decided to roll with the one Kaito had given him prior.
"A-ah, no, you must be mistaken. I'm not Kaito-kun. I'm his twin, Kuroba Shinobu. Nice to meet you," he explained, confidently holding out his hand. The strange woman narrowed her eyebrows and stared Shinichi up and down.
"You don't fool me, Kaito-kun."

She breathed out a shaky sigh, hand raking through her long brown hair. She looked tired, with large bags under her eyes. For a second, Shinichi frowned as he remembered himself looking just like that for a very long time.
"L-look," she began, quietly, not able to bring herself to look at him any further, "J-just get out. I'll keep a closed eye this time."
Shinichi could recognize pain inside her eyes, a pain so awfully similar to the one he had seen inside Ran's eyes whenever he came to be the topic of any interaction. The sleuth swallowed and turned on his heel towards the register, knowing better than to stick his nose into KID's business, even if he would have absolutely loved to do so. This was a fairly interesting piece of information he had received. Maybe he could find something out about this woman? Shinichi couldn't help but want to try.

Watching the mirror image of Kuroba Kaito vanish towards the cashier, the strange woman started to tremble, her teeth sank down into her bottom lip to stop her from crying.

Why is he here? Why? He just left. Just like KID, he just up and disappeared.

Forcing her tears back, Nakamori Aoko brushed her brown hair behind her ear and turned as well, unable to bear the view of her old childhood friend so carefree and cold and distant like nothing had ever happened, like she had been but a stranger to him.
Aoko clenched a fist, once again her ears were burning with upcoming tears. After all these years, he was just going to show up and expect everything to be the same? After he had bolted out of her life?

D-don't visit me anymore, Kaito-kun...

Aoko's breath hitched as she clutched a part of her blouse inside her hand, memories flooding in. Right. It had been her fault, after all. Kaito hadn't up and vanished because he was a selfish prick, he had left because Aoko herself had asked him to. It was her fault, her fault all alone.

I hate you. I hate you. You've taken up dad's entire time, he was barely there for me, he had even forgotten my birthday. Just because your own-

Aoko shook her head wildly, desperately forcing her thoughts back. It was wrong to think that. Kaito was not to blame for not having a father to grow up with like she had had, a loving family to take care of him. She had taken things all too lightly... of course she had seen Kaito grieve, but he had been smiling and laughing and playing tricks and pranks on everyone barely a month after Aoko had had simply assumed things were alright, as far as they could be after the death of a loved one. And she? She hadn't been there for him, hadn't made it clear enough that she was a reliable shoulder to cry on.

And KID had given their relationship the last blow. She had always assumed that one day, she was going to marry Kaito and they would start a family of their own... But at that day, Aoko had felt so hurt, so betrayed, so used and humiliated in front of everyone she had known. That Kaito, the boy she had loved to dearly, the boy who she grew up with, had turned into the only thing she had despised on this entire world.
At first, Aoko hadn't quite believed it. It had been a mere joke, was what she had told herself. But Kaito hadn't laughed, didn't let confetti appear out of thin air above them, and that was the moment Aoko had finally realized he was serious. Dread had crept into her soul, her guts began to twist and turn as reality had sunken in.

Aoko slowly lowered the pack of toilet paper she had been going for originally into her cart, making her way out of the aisle. She barely registrated the people around her, the thoughts about today's dinner long forgotten. She wasn't even able to describe her own state of emotion at this very moment. Had it been confusion? Regret? Fear? Anger? Betrayal? Sadness? Aoko didn't know for the love of god, and she hated it.

Kaito stared down at the gem inside his hands, deep in thought. A soft breeze played with his hair, birds chirped around him and for the first time, Kaito felt like he was able to breathe. After Shinichi had gotten into the cab and both had been dropped off at the hakase's, Kaito had excused himself to go on a walk. A slight smile hushed over his lips at the surprised look Meitantei had given him as he had actually announced his departure to him instead of just disappearing into thin air like he used to do.
He wasn't quite sure if extending his stay was what he had wanted to do but the thought of Akako somehow knowing not only where he was but the exact condition he had been in was giving him the creeps. Was he waiting out another approach of the witch? Kaito didn't exactly want to know the answer to that.

And overall, he wasn't alone anymore, another thing he couldn't quite file away. Kudo Shinichi had hooked himself onto him as sly as ever; and Kaito knew now that both of them weren't going to die any time soon, he was going to be forced to enjoy the sleuth's company a bit longer. He wasn't quite sure either how to think about the choice he had been given to. Kaito possessed something nobody else had; the choice of his very own death. Not only that, he choice of Kudo Shinichi's death. When was he going to unite Pandora? Was he ever going to do that? When was he going to be ready to simply die?

Shinichi had had been oddly quiet during the entire drive after he had returned from the grocery store, something Kaito had certainly noticed but favored to ignore. He was slowly getting a bit comfortable around the sleuth... the constant touching had helped a good deal as well. Though Kaito did honestly wonder... had his Meitantei always been such a touchy and attached guy?