candyland: (who me?)
[personal profile] candyland
Title: Waiting for the Light to Shine
Fandom: Detective Conan/Magic Kaitou
Author: Candyland
Theme: #7—first sunlight after the darkness
Pairing: Kuroba Kaito/Nakamori Aoko
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Gosho Aoyama. I do not own them. I merely borrow them, drop them in a blender, hit puree, and watch them dance. Yes, dance, my pretties…ahem.
Summary: The hardest part was waiting and not knowing…



It was five in the morning.

And Aoko hadn’t slept a wink.

She’d tried—goodness knows she had tried. She crawled into bed around midnight, and lay there for three hours, tossing and turning and kicking the blankets around in a fitful but futile attempt to fall asleep. But in the end, she’d gotten up and wandered back downstairs to sit in the darkness and wait for news that felt like it was never going to come.

After a while, she went and made herself some tea to try and calm increasingly-tense nerves. It did help some to soothe and relax her, but she was still waiting anxiously for word to come.

This was all Kaitou Kid’s fault.

She winced at the thought and all that it implied.

It had all been a stupid accident—she knew she wasn’t supposed to find out. It was all such a blur, especially what had happened after that split second when her world had crashed down around her. She remembered a soft, familiar voice, void of any emotion, prodding her on towards a destination she didn’t know anything of, and a flurry of white feathers before she was alone.

That had been two weeks ago. She hadn’t spoken to Kaito since…but she also hadn’t told her father the truth of what had happened that night. The whole situation was almost unbearable. She was a traitor all around.

The house echoed with the sound of her footsteps. It was empty—her father was out at work, doing what he’d always done. He was chasing an elusive phantom, completely unaware that the man he’d been trying to catch for nearly two decades regularly came over to his house, crashed on his couch, dug through his fridge, and annoyed his daughter.

She hadn’t gone to the Kid heist tonight—she couldn’t bear to. But she was still watching it at home on the news. Normally she would be cheering her father on, but that just didn’t feel right. She was divided, her loyalties split between two people…one of whom she didn’t really think deserved her allegiance, yet she couldn’t bring herself to break it away..

Still she kept her mouth shut, not really knowing the reason why.

Instead she sat and watched and waited. It was going along as normal…

And then the gunshots began.

And she, undoubtedly along with countless others, was glued to her television as heavy gunfire rained down on the Kaitou Kid heist and the harried Taskforce attempting to capture him. It was panic…

The TV coverage cut out as everyone was cleared from the area. For several seconds, there was a bright blue screen, and then a startled-looking anchorman appeared, seated at a desk in front of a camera. He nervously adjusted his tie before encouraging everyone to remain calm, they would have a report as soon as any information became available.

Aoko turned off the TV, but didn’t get up right away.

Someone was shooting at her father. Shooting at Kaito.

The very thought made something deep inside her go icy cold.

She sat there for a while longer, thinking about nothing, until she heard the clock chime the quarter-hour. It was almost midnight. And suddenly, she was painfully aware of how tired she was. She had to drag herself up the stairs to her room, where she flopped into bed.

She’d tried to sleep. It hadn’t worked.

So here she sat, hands wrapped around a warm ceramic mug on the kitchen table, the soothing smell of chamomile tea wafting upwards and filling the room. She’d been here for quite some time now. She was exhausted, but not sleepy.

With a sudden burst of energy, she stood up, nearly knocking her chair over in the process, and stormed out of the dining room. The mug of tea sat forgotten on the table.

She was sick of sitting still—she was going crazy. But there was nothing she could do—all she could really do was hang in there. But the hardest part was definitely waiting. Waiting, and not knowing…

She walked outside and stepped down onto the top step, sinking down to sit on the stoop. She wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, shivering slightly in the chill of the early morning air, and stared straight ahead towards the street, thinking about everything and nothing.

She sat there in the dark for a long time. Finally, in the distance, the first faint light of dawn slid across the horizon, casting a few rays of pink and orange across the darkened sky.

Something broke, and she tilted her head down to press her face into her knees. It was sunrise, and still nothing. No sign of him, no sign of her father, no news about anyone. What if something had happened to one or both of them? No…

Her father was the only family she had left—she couldn’t lose him. And Kaito…he couldn’t just disappear like that before she’d gotten to talk to him just one more time, to tell him the truth about how she felt…that she forgave him…

“Aoko?”

Aoko lifted her head to stare at the source of the breathless voice. Her eyes followed the shadow along the paved walkway to its owner, standing on the sideway a couple of meters away from her. And her jaw dropped slightly as she took in the sight. “K-Kaito…”

Kaito was breathing hard, like he’d been running some great distance, and there was an obvious cut across one cheek…but he still managed to give her a crooked smile and speak so cheerfully to her, like there was nothing wrong at all. “Whatsa matter? Did ya miss me?”

For a moment, she didn’t move. She couldn’t move.

And then it all moved in a blur. Aoko launched herself off the front stoop, stumbled as she hit the walkway, but instinctively steadied herself without missing a single step and sprinted right into arms that were waiting for her, wide open.

Arms that were tight around her, trapping her inside them the minute she was within reach.

“Kaito…” she whispered. “Oh my God, you’re okay…”

“I’m fine. So is your dad,” he told her, answering the question before she’d even asked it. “I saw him—he saw me in the crowd, just another innocent bystander. He yelled at me for not leaving right away when things went crazy, and then told me to go straight home and call you when I got there…but I figured in person was better.” He grinned. “I’m supposed to tell you that he’s fine, he loves you, and he’ll call you the first chance he gets—right now, he’s got his hands full with a couple of very important arrests.”

“They got them?”

“They got them,” he affirmed. “With a little help from their usual adversary.”

The words were tearing out of her in a rush as she clung to him. “Kaito—Kaito, I’m so sorry, I got so angry and I said a lot of really stupid stuff and I don’t want you to go away…you can’t disappear! Please, don’t leave me, I swear I won’t tell—I just want to understand…why? Kaito, why? God…I love you, you dumbass…don’t you dare go—“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he chuckled, and she fell silent. He let her go, but she didn’t move away, wanting to stay close. One of his hands moved to catch a lock of her hair and toy with it, twisting it between his fingers. “Easy. No hurry.” His expression softened, and so did his voice. “We’ve got plenty of time to talk. There’s no rush.” He sighed. “Which is good, because it might take a while.”

She didn’t reply right away, but pulled him close once more before speaking. “How did you know?” It wasn’t that she wondered how he knew it would take a long time to explain everything and answer all of her rampaging questions, but more that she wanted to know…

And he still answered the right question. “I knew you didn’t mean it when you said you hated me…if only because you didn’t immediately tell your father. I knew you’d be worried—no matter how angry you were. You’re a good person, Aoko. If something happened to me, I knew you would cry.”

“Idiot…” she murmured.

“Yeah, I know.”

They stood on the sidewalk and clung to each other as the first rays of the dawn touched them and warmed them both, in more ways than one. And the last of the darkness fled before it.



PS. Whoo, back at it! This was just a quick, random plunnie—I have a couple more ideas at the moment. Here’s hoping for another quick update…’cause once we hit November, I’m doing NaNoWriMo, and will not be spending time on fics. I also did look it up online, and at this time of the year, the sunrise in Japan happens a little before six AM.

Anyway, hope you liked this. Nine more to go! Thanks for reading, everyone! Much love!




Cross-posted to [livejournal.com profile] 30_nights and 40 Nights: Kaito and Aoko.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-20 07:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ran-mouri82.livejournal.com
Gasp! That was so . . . splutter-splutter-gack!

Granted, I've only read a few of the Kid stories in DC, and none of MK, but this was deliciously in character. And I <3 how you implied friendship-turned-romance, even without a kiss. Its subtlety only added to its charm and warm fuzziness. The feeling of having to wait for news of a loved one's well-being is also something to which many of us can relate, I'm sure. Superlative job! Keep writing!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 02:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
*pats you on the back* Please to not be choking! ♥

SQUEE!! Thank you very much--I'm glad you liked it!! *giggle* I almost had a kiss, but then decided against it at the last minute =P *luffs on you*

MK...the manga is not as well-drawn as DC (I think Kaito's head is sort of deformed), but it's got a definite charm to it. And most of the time, Aoko is adorable on wheels =D

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-20 10:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bard-linn.livejournal.com
*wibble* Very nice, very nice. Very IC as well. I could really feel the emotions coming from this. ^.^

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 02:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
Awww, thank you!!

Icon love!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-20 10:11 pm (UTC)
abarero: (Shippy 03)
From: [personal profile] abarero
Guh, I love this *.*

The way the writing builds the tension as we fill in all the parts of the past that are causing Aoko's restless night is just so well orchestrated. And the ending is so adorable~ ♥

(pst. btw not that I'm doing anything special for 10-30-06 anything you'd like to have written for you? XD)

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
*sparkles* Thank you very much!! *hearts*

Well...if you happened to have something DC/MK laying around, that'd be kinda cool ^.~

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:12 am (UTC)
abarero: (Shippy 10)
From: [personal profile] abarero
Any specific character/plot/prompt you'd like?

XD

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
Hmmm...well, if you happened to have something with Heiji and/or Kazuha sitting about, that would rock muchly. Or Mitsuhiko/Ai ^_~

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:21 am (UTC)
abarero: (Normal-02)
From: [personal profile] abarero
*is not going off to plot and write any such thing before 10/30...*

XD

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-20 10:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] articulation.livejournal.com
..guh. You write wibble-inducing fics beyond amazingly.

I love the way it builds and the end is just perfectly in character. Very nice, honey. ♥

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
Wow...that's twice I've gotten the "guh" response *giggles*

Thank you muchly! Looking forward to reading more from you on this challenge *wink*

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-21 01:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] insaneladybug.livejournal.com
Yay! Cuteness! I love Kaito/Aoko fics, especially where she learns the truth. Mixing in worry and hurt/comfort certainly doesn't hurt either! I love it. You captured Aoko's emotions so well, they could easily be felt. And she and Kaito are perfectly in-character! Aww, Kaito's so sweet with her ... when he's not trying to flip her skirt. XD

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-21 05:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ran-mouri82.livejournal.com
"Aww, Kaito's so sweet with her ... when he's not trying to flip her skirt." Seriously! It's great how candy__chan still had Kaito acting a bit goofy; so much MK ficcage is either crack or angst, but this type of story allowed Kaito to be himself. Huttah!

Btw, candy__chan, that was a compliment not-really-behind-your-back, but ah, well. *saved to Memories* XP

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
Awww, thank you!! *wibbles*

*GLOMPS YOU FOR THE WIN!!!*

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
*giggle* Hooray! Thank you!

...I think I'm going to have to write one in which Kaito is trying to be uber-romantic, because I think he could really pull it off. *pats him on the head* Just don't flip her skirt, lover-boy, and we're good to go ^.~

I can't WAIT to read your fics for this challenge <3

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] insaneladybug.livejournal.com
^^ I may have one in a day or two! Possibly tonight, though that might be pushing it. XD

Yes, you should definitely write that!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
SQUEE!! *happy happy backflip*

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-21 05:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fyliwionvilyaer.livejournal.com
This weekend apparently is going to be WONDERFUL

*GLOMPSGLOMPSGLOMPSGLOMPS*

YOU UPDATED!!!!! ^_________^ AND IT WAS WONDERFUL! And it makes me want to finish a plunnie I had and had difficulty with >>

Its sooooooo happymaking! *attackles*

Love!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
...I think I've said this before, but I love getting comments from you. You always make me smile! *scoops you up and dances you around the room*

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! *squees and does backflip*

*small voice* Plunnie? Mrew? *grows kitty ears and paws at your sleeve*

Love back!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 03:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] illeistic.livejournal.com
jasofaidjfodf <3333!!! I love this pairing because of all the angst it can create, bwahahaha. They're so cuuuuuuuute ajosdidjf X33

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-23 03:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
Wow! Incoherency! *ish happy*

Thank youuuuuuuuu!!!

Never changing my mind....

Date: 2006-10-22 06:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kit2000andanna.livejournal.com
Well. Everything has been said earlier. This chapter was really thrilling to read. I may only add that the way you write about Kaito and Aoko is definitely awesome. I can’t forget the chapter “Brightly Burning”. Really, sometimes you make up such deep and touching scenes that I can’t hold back my tears. Anna and I are waiting for your new chapter. Kisses from Belarus ^_^

Re: Never changing my mind....

Date: 2006-10-23 04:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
Awww, thank you very much! *huggles*

Got your email, will reply to it once I catch up with various LJ comments o.O

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-22 07:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twosen.livejournal.com
Random plunnie indeed. I'm liking how you do Kaito though - somehow I can picture him with that crooked smile and cut cheek that you describe exactly. ^__^ *♥ the Kid*

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-23 04:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] candy--chan.livejournal.com
'Twas random--I was entertaining another idea when this one hit, and I had to write it =P Glad you liked it, though!! THANK YOU!! *cheers*

Kid = ♥♥♥

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-24 04:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twosen.livejournal.com
Now I'm envisioning some Kaito-Cupid cross sort of muse shooting you with random plunnies written on playing-cards...

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